Out Think, Out Smart, Out Gas Part 2
by Resurgent-class
Summary: Season 1 Story 8.1 Takes place in Season 1, between episodes #8 The Day Smart Turned Chicken and #9 Satan Place. Spearheaded by the Oberführer's right-hand, SS-19, KAOS continues its marauding spree as Max, 99 and CONTROL closes in on them! [Hi everyone! Part 1 is rated M. If you can't see it, go to Filters and set the Rating to "All". So sorry!]
1. Chapter 1

**Out Think, Out Smart, Out Gas**

 **Welcome to Part 2 everyone! I really appreciate all your efforts and iron will to keep on reading. Hopefully, the chapters should be more succinct or at least less convoluted from here on! Happy reading and do leave a review if you like so I can improve in future fan-fics! Thanks!**

 **Part 2**

 **A Get Smart Fan Fiction**

 **By** **Resurgent** **-class**

 **Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANY GET SMART ORIGINAL SERIES CHARACTERS**

 **CHAPTER 1**

"Okay fellas!" Max said raising his left hand while his right still held the Colt Official Police at waist level against Wyatt's Walther P38 and Flat-Nose's Colt Python. "No harm done!—" he gestured with his left at Flat-Nose. "—he's not the KAOS man we're looking for, which is great! I mean, why go through all the trouble of shooting and killing each other over the wrong revolution and unrest fomenting agent?"

Wyatt's teeth showed as his thin lips parted in a humorless smile while his P38 remained unwavering, muzzle in line with Max's big nose.

"I zon't tink zo!"

"What if we throw in a six-pack of beer and a pressure check on our tires?" Max offered.

"Huns up!" Wyatt ordered as the auto-mechanic with the name tag stating Grant, stood up behind the CONTROL agents, Zastava M57 levelled steadily at the back of 99's head.

Max sighed raising his hands, letting the Colt Official Police dangle from his index finger by its trigger guard as he remarked with a lop-sided smirk.

"Your accent just takes away the friendly home-grown feel of _Harvey's Gas Station_ you know."

"Nepravil'no!" Wyatt spat, his gray eyes narrowing. "Vevore, I speak we ACZENT! Now—I um speaking PLO-PERLY."

"Where's Němec?" 99 asked tilting her sharp chin up over Max's left shoulder at Wyatt and Flat-Nose as Grant places a boot on the creeper he had been laying on and with a backwards sweep, sent the wheeled platform rolling away to bump against the eastern wall with a metallic rattling of worn out wheels.

"Komrad Němec is var arway by now." Wyatt scoffed as Grant moves to stand right behind 99 at arm's length, M57 levelled at the back of her head. "Vut he told uz to expect you both and mak zure you stop vollowing him."

Max rolled his eyes up at the dirt-streaked ceiling as he exclaimed.

"The old, lead-the-CONTROL-agents-to-the-gas-station-by-pretending-to-drop-a-lighter-from-said-gas station-then-have-the-gas station-mechanics-ambush-the-CONTROL-agents-with-lookalike-KAOS-agent, trick! FIFTH TIME—I fell for it this month!"

"Ve vasted enuv time." Flat-Nose said waving the Colt Python at them. "Schnell! Vee take zhem to deezpozal site now und shoot zhem!"

As 99 gasped at Max's shoulder, her hand still helplessly jammed inside her purse at her armpit, 86 spread the fingers of his raised left hand to halt the gunmen before him.

"JUST a minute now! Since you're in such a hurry, I have ONE final, QUICK request."

"Vhat ees it?!" Flat-Nose demanded impatiently flicking the full-lugged, ventilated ribbed barrel of the Colt Python.

"A farewell phone call to each of my five hundred friends."

"Arrrgghh!" Flat-Nose growled, his eyes flashing with rage as he jabbed the Colt Python's large muzzle in the direction of Max's face. "—how shtupik zu you zink vee are?! You vill use ONE of zhose phone calls to call your Chief!"

While 99 squinted slightly at Flat-Nose's assessment, Max's eyes widened as he scoffed.

"But the Chief IS one of my friends!"

Flat-Nose squinted in thought, tilting his fedoraed head.

"Oh…vell, I zuppoze zhat iz rezonable."

Wyatt rolled his eyes to the grimy ceiling of the garage, shaking his head as he exclaimed.

"And you wondar WHY you peeple loz TWO werl wars!"

As Flat-Nose growled through his teeth at his comrade in arms, Wyatt glared back at the CONTROL agents before jutting his round chin towards Grant while gesturing at Flat-Nose and pointing at Max with his left hand.

'Bystro! Get zher devushka's bug and gun! Go—get Smart's weapun!"

"You international agents of evil!" Max grimaced, shaking his head as Flat-Nose stepped forward, reaching for his Colt Official Police while Grant, M57's muzzle brushing 99's dark brown hair, reached for her purse. "Always in such a RUSH! Fine, I'll help. Here, catch!"

Max's right hand lunged forward tossing his Smith and Wesson revolver off his index finger right at the approaching gunman. As Flat-Nose's eyes popped, reacting instantly grabbing at the flying revolver with both hands, Max's raised left hand shoved the raised hood of the Jaguar, slamming it down onto Wyatt's right arm. As Wyatt yelled out, P38 flying from his hand, Max lunged forward, left cross smashing through Flat-Nose's blunt chinned, square jaw, twisting the man's head and body about, sending both revolvers clattering to the greasy floor and knocking the fedora off his head.

Grant's pale green eyes flashed as he reassessed the threat and grabbed at 99's shoulder.

"Shtop! Or I kill zer…"

His sentence was interrupted by a muffled roar of a gunshot and a small hole exploded outwards in the rear facing edge of 99's white purse under her left arm. Grant reeled back towards the quarter panel of the Mark X, head jerking forward, whitish-blond hair jumping free of their slit back state as the .38 S&W Special round nosed bullet drilled into his chest past his sternum, perforating his heart and exploding out his back next to his spine in a welter of blood. The light faded from his pale green eyes as he collapsed into a puddle of oil on the floor next to the car's right quarter panel, his M57 flying from his hands to skitter across the dirty floor.

Wyatt growled charging at Max, fist flying. 86 ducked and the momentum of the over-extended missed punch and charge sends Wyatt leaning forward over the CONTROL agent. Max quickly wraps his arms around Wyatt's right leg and stands up swiftly, lifting his opponent up and over his shoulder. As Wyatt crashes to the floor on his back behind Max, Flat-Nose charged at the CONTROL agent.

Max dodged the left fist from Flat-Nose before ducking the follow-up right cross and hooking a right into the man's stomach. As air gushed out of his opponent's mouth in an ' _oof_ ', straightened and smashed a right into the man's jaw sending him reeling backwards.

"Max look out!" 99 warned, right gloved hand coming out of her purse with her smoking over-under barrelled derringer.

She levelled it at Wyatt who was renewing his assault only to see a powerful hand close around her right wrist and yank her weapon off to the side. Max spun to meet Wyatt's charge and they slammed against each other, wrestling against each other, twirling across the floor in a weird aberration of a box step until both struck the eastern wall.

99 just managed to catch in her peripheral vision, the word 'BROCK' on the name tag of her attacker, his pudgy cheeked face and cold glittering eyes beneath his cap, just before his left arm wrapped around her throat from behind. Biceps the texture of iron bulged and squeezed into the side of her neck cutting off her breath and lifting her boots off the dirty floor. She kicked helplessly, her yellow beret falling off her head as her opponent backed away towards the east wall, his right hand squeezing her wrist viciously and all she could do was look helplessly sideways as her right gloved hand opened up against her will and the Derringer dropped to the floor.

Wyatt with his big fists closed around Max's dim gray suit's lapels, lifted his shoes a few inches off the oily floor as he slammed him against the wall again. As spanners, hammers, socket-ranches and pliers fell off a tool board, Max brought both his fists down onto Wyatt's forearms, breaking his grip on his jacket. Wyatt immediately hurled a right and Max ducked past him. The fist struck the partially empty tool board where Max's big eared head had been just a second ago, causing more tools to fall off and tearing a roar from Wyatt as he staggered clutching his hand. Max turned just as Wyatt did and delivered a left cross that slammed him back against the tool board and falling sideways to crash into and knock over a barrel sending the blue and silver streaked black oil inside spilling out merging with the little puddles of it's kin into a wave that washed over the floor along the eastern wall, sloshing over Brock's shoes and coverall legs as well as 99's white boots while fanning out underneath the Jaguar. Out of his peripheral vision, Max saw Flat-Nose, crouched on the ground, grabbing his Colt Python.

86 bent, grabbing a fallen box-end wrench from the floor and just as the Colt Python's ventilated rib barrel lined up with his head, he threw the tool sending it flying end over end. Flat-Nose growled as the tool smashed into his knuckles knocking the revolver from his hand as the CONTROL agent charged at him. Max blocked a right cross and delivering a right hook to Flat-Nose's jaw that twisted his head about.

99's left gloved hand pulled hopelessly against Brock's flexing forearm. Her booted feet were still kicking, inches above the floor, her shoulder blades pressed against the heaving big chest of her attacker while his bulging belly mashed the base of her spine forcing it into a painful 'C' shape. Spots began swimming in her vision and she knew unconsciousness would soon follow. Brock apparently was not going to wait that long as he released her right hand, having disarmed her and neutralized the primary threat. Instinctively, 99's right hand whipped after his departing right hand as Brock brought it to her head, she knew to finish her. As his hand landed on her head to deliver the fatal neck snapping wrench, her gloved hand grabbed desperately and managed to close around his middle and fourth finger, catching some of her own hair as she did and with every ounce of strength, she wrenched on them, twisting his fingers backwards towards the back of his hand.

She could feel Brock's chest vibrating as he roared in agony and rage. 99 continued pulling down on his two fingers inside her gloved fist, and she could hear his knuckles popping. And Brock could not use his other hand to dislodge her grip as he had to maintain his hold around her neck. 99 squeezed her eyes shut with effort as she kept his fingers wrenched back and she could hear cracks and thumps of fists hitting jaws and ribs as Max fought on. Just then, 99 felt her boots touched the oil slicked floor relieving the pressure slightly from Brock's belly against her lower back and his arm around her throat loosened. With this much needed leverage, 99, keeping Brock's fingers pulled backwards, yanked his hand away from her head, causing a sharp pain on her head as she ended up tearing out a few strands of her hair caught in her grip. Ignoring the sting on her scalp, she pushed Brock's hand by his twisted fingers, off to the side, and pulled on them like they were a pair of oversized triggers.

Brock roared as his fingers dislocated at the knuckles with a grungy crunch and his left arm loosed even further around 99's neck. Snatching this split second of opportunity, 99's left hand pulled on Brock's left forearm, inching it away from her chin just enough for her to nod her head forward before hurling it backwards. The back of her head slammed into Brock's nose, cutting off his roar and her stomach twisted as she felt the sickening crunch of his nose against her skull and the warmth of his blood splattering over her hair seeping down to her scalp.

Max's left drove into Flat-Nose's solar plexus. As he doubled over, Max grabbed him by his collar and brought his knee up into his face. As Flat-Nose's upper body snapped back up with a force that threw him off his feet to the oily floor on his back, Max whirled at the sound of sharp oily footfalls and turned around just as Wyatt came at him swinging an x-shaped lug wrench barely giving him time to duck his big-eared head.

Brock staggered back against the eastern wall, his head bent backwards, eyes shut, his left hand now clutching his nose, streams of blood seeping flowing over his fingers. 99, still holding onto the dislocated fingers of his right hand, turned her body clockwise away from him to stand on his right and adding her left hand now to grip his right wrist and keep his arm stretched, swung her right leg up in a round kick, hitting Brock in the ribs. The man staggered forward, leaning over with the blow and 99 lifted her right knee to drive her boot down into the back of Brock's knee. The man's leg buckled and her boot followed the back of his knee as he dropped down onto his right kneecap with a loud grunt, still clutching his broken nose, 99 still holding onto his fingers and wrist.

Wyatt swung the x-shaped lug wrench in a back hand. Max stepped in, intercepting the sweeping arm, grapping his opponent's wrist in his hands and twisted the arm, bending it behind the man's back, forcing the hand up towards Wyatt's neck. The auto-mechanic's head tossed backwards as he yelled in pain and rage. Max kept hold of Wyatt's wrist with his left hand while delivering a right handed knife hand strike down into the base of his opponent's neck cutting off his yell. As Wyatt began slumping down, Max delivered a final knife hand strike horizontally across the back of his neck sending him to the floor face down in an oil-stained heap.

Keeping her grip on Brock's fingers and wrist to hold his arm out to the side as he remained on one knee, 99 swung her left leg up and her shin slammed into the back of the man's neck with a loud smacking thump. Brock's face went slack and his left hand slipped from his crimson nose as he pitched forward into the coloured oil on the floor with a wet smack sending droplets of oil splattering 99's ultramarine dress.

There was no respite as the door in the west wall flew open, swinging a full 180 degrees to hit the wall to it's left.

"Ninety-Nine get down!" Max barely had time to yell as he ran and dived to the floor as the big red-bearded man in the blue denim overalls and light blue shirt at the convenience store half of the building stepped in, tobacco stained teeth bared in a vicious snarl and thin barrelled FBP submachine gun in his big hands, collapsible wire stock extended and shoved against his blocky shoulder.

The FBP's muzzle flared and spat it's death song as 99 threw herself back to the floor against the right side rear door of the Jaguar Mark X. Max slid over the floor on his chest and stomach, droplets of oil raining upwards from his passage, splattering his face but somehow, he managed to grab his fallen Colt Official Police as well as Wyatt's Walther P38 along the way. Bullets raked a line of holes across the eastern wall just inches above his body. As he came to a stop behind the Jaguar, the FBP's 9mm Parabellum shells hammered the left fender of the Mark X near the wheel and as the bearded man continued firing, the front left tire blew.

Max scrambled over the floor, his face and the front of his dim gray jacket, vest and pants now a myriad of black, blue and silver stains and 99 sitting on the floor, leaning sideways against the Jaguar door, trying to keep her head low. Blue and silver streaked black oil drenched her knees, shins and calves while her kitten heel boots were nowhere near their original colour as was most of the lower portion of her ultramarine dress, stained with patches and swathes of oily black, blue and silver.

The red bearded man kept his hold on the trigger, swinging the blazing FBP down the left side of the Jaguar drawing a line of holes along the left side doors. Max and 99 heard the sharp drumming as the bullets punched through the metal of the doors and chewed into the internal linings.

Max chanced a look up through the window of the right front door only to have the gunner see him and swing the blazing FBP up to hammer the left front door window with a hail of bullets. 86 barely had time to duck his head as the left front door window exploded inwards, showering the interior of the Jaguar with glass. A split second later, the bullets demonstrated the same effect on the interior of the right front window and glass showered over Max and 99's back and hair.

"Stay down Ninety-Nine! Stay down!" Max yelled his voice almost completely drowned out from the automatic gun fire, as he reached his hands protectively over 99's bent back.

Instantly, the flashing muzzle of the FBP inched to the right and obliterated the rear left side window followed by the corresponding one on the right side as the bullets sliced through the interior of the once luxurious vehicle. Hundreds of glass fragments again showered 99's back and hair tearing a sharp cry from her.

"Ninety-Nine!" Max yelled over the thunder of the automatic fire though 99's face was just inches from his while bullets continued to pummel the left side doors.

"Yes Max!" 99 yelled back, hands trying to shield her head.

"Here's the plan!" Max declared handing her the Walther P38. "You draw his fire and keep me covered! I'll run away and get help!"

"Right Max!" 99 said taking hold of the pistol and still hunched over, turned towards the right quarter panel of the car as bullets streamed through the shattered windows of the Mark X and riddled holes in the eastern wall. However she suddenly paused, her blue eyes widening before whipping back round to Max, jaw dropping as she exclaimed indignantly.

"Maaaax!"

Max grimaced taking back the P38.

"Oookay—I'll…" he began only to be interrupted as the rear left tire blew as well and the Jaguar tilted slightly.

Max took the opportunity to rise up aiming through the front right side shattered window and squeezed the trigger. But his angle was off and the .38 special round struck the open door next to the red bearded man. However, it was enough to make him cease fire and retreat for cover behind the wall to the left of the door giving Max a glimpse of the name "GUS" on the overall's name tag. Then they heard frantic sharp clicks and slaps of metallic parts grinding and sliding against one another which heralded a reprieve.

"Quick! While he's reloading!" Max hissed now levelling the Walther and firing with it repeatedly through the Jaguar's window, shattering a small section of the doorjamb and making Gus flinch and growl like a rampaging wild boar as wooden splinters and bits of masonry pelted him while he struggled to fit in a fresh 32-round box magazine.

Max's trigger finger squeezed off the 6th shot from the P38 shot as 99 whipped around on her boot toes, bent low to dash for the southern entrance which they had first entered. At that moment, in his right eye's peripheral vision, a flicker of movement to in the Jaguar's miraculously still intact right door side mirror made him spin to his left.

"Ninety-Nine get down!" Max yelled just barely having time to grab hold of 99's fleeing shoulder and throwing his chest onto her back to push her back down into a crouch while extending his right arm and aiming the Colt Official Police

99 yelped as the weight of Max's hard chest pressed her down, grinding her knees painfully into the oil covered ground and her gloved hands joined them, soaking up the fluid as Max reached over her with his right arm, levelling his gun at Jeremy who was dashing in through the south entrance if the garage, right arm raised at shoulder level with a Walther P38 in his hand, aimed at them.

The heat and pressure of Max's body against her back triggered involuntary flutters of her heart and despite the potential life-ending circumstances, 99 found herself wishing they could remain in that position a few minutes longer even as she clapped her oil soaked gloves over her ears to block out the deafening roar of the Colt Official Police barely inches from her. The Smith & Wesson kicked and flashed as Max squeezed the trigger twice. Jeremy staggered, brown hair flying as the first .38 special round shattered his right collar bone and exited with a plume of blood from the middle fibres of his trapezius muscle to the right of his spine and the second one smashed his breast bone knocking him off his feet to land in a clatter of boots and body on concrete.

Right at that moment, Gus swung out from behind the doorjamb, submachine gun blazing in a renewed assault. The left quarter panel of the Jaguar shook as 9mm Parabellums riddled it with holes, making Max and 99 back away, still keeping low, towards the centre of the car.

Gus swung the blazing FBP to the left again aiming at the shattered windows as he hollered.

"Meghaaaaal! Kapitalista kutyááááák!"

The upholstery of the Jaguar exploded filling the interior with a roiling mass of flying shredded leather and seat stuffings before the wooden dash board erupted as well. 99 screamed hunching lower as Max tried to shield her against the avalanche of seat stuffings and wooden splinters and fragments that exploded out the right side windows of the Mark X.

Gus stepped out of the doorway into the garage now firing in 3-4 round bursts as he walked sideways rapidly towards his left in the direction of the northern entrance. The FBP spat and blazed drilling more holes into the left doors of the Jaguar. The leather interior of the car was torn to shreds, stuffing flying constantly. As Gus kept moving and firing, 9mm rounds drilled through the partially closed hood of the car.

99 screamed again as the damaged radiator exploded under a hail of bullets, the force flipping the lid up to bounce against the limits of it's hinges before slamming back down again followed by the windshield finally exploding inwards. More glass fragments blew out the shattered windows of the Mark X, showering Max and 99, joining the seat stuffing, bits of once luxurious leather and decadent mahogany from the dashboard that already festooned their clothing.

"He's circling around!" Max yelled swivelling around towards the front of the car to aim his revolver and the Walther. "Get ready to run Ninety-Nine!"

Gus was nearing the other entrance, closing in on an angle that would allow him to shoot at his hidden targets as he kept peppering the Jaguar with fire, keeping them pinned.

As Max remained hunched, aiming his weapons towards the opposite entrance waiting for his quarry to come into view, making himself believe he could outshoot him in just a split second, 99 crouched against his back looked about frantically for a means of escape, her dark brown hair flying as she did, oil dripping from both her blackened ears. Her eyes fell on the creeper which the auto-mechanic with the name tag "GRANT" had been using, now with the unconscious Brock face down next to it before spotting Grant's fallen Zastava M57 near the creeper as well.

As the FBP's staccato 3-4 burst tune of devastation found the remaining headlights of the Mark X shattering them, 99 lunged, crawling on oil soaked gloved hands and knees to grab up the M57 before partially crawling over Brock's inert form to throw herself onto the creeper which had been left with one end against the eastern wall. 99 laid on the creeper on her back, about halfway down, with her head pointed towards the Jaguar. As bullet holes raked the eastern wall over her, 99 pulled her knees to her chest and braced her oil spattered boots against the wall, sacrificing some modesty and pushing aside the heat in her cheeks as the blackened hem of her dress fell to her hips, exposing her sleek oil stained thighs and triangular point of her white panties encasing the sensual curving bulge of her genitalia. Taking an engine oil laced breath and still blushing slightly at her exposure with Max so nearby, 99 kicked with all the power in her steely quadriceps, straightening her legs as she did.

Max turned at the high speed rattling of wheels and his eyes bulged as he saw 99 rocketing head first over the floor on her back, oil spraying thinly on either side of her as she disappeared under the Jaguar. The underside of the MARK X flashed by for a split second in 99's vision and then the garage's ceiling came into view again as she arrowed out on the other side of the Jaguar.

Gus whirled at the movement and 99 turned onto her left side, arms stretched out as the creeper continued rolling towards the western wall. The FBP's blazing barrel swung and a line of bullet holes tore across the floor towards her and 99 felt the squishing around her index finger inside her oil soaked gloves as she squeezed the trigger repeatedly. The M57 kicked and coughed again and again as 99 fought with all her strength to maintain her aim. The trail of oil soaked concrete spitting bullet holes in the floor heading towards her from the Mark X stopped an inch short of the moving creeper as Gus jerked and convulsed violently, arms swinging out to the sides, FBP still clutched in his right hand as the first 2 7.62x25mm shells shattered a rib each on his right side and the next 3 projectiles shattered his sternum through his shaggy red beard drilled his lungs, exploding out his backs in star-shaped bursts of blood between his scapula and his spine on either side, sending him flying off his feet to land with a loud frump of body, clatter of boots and the sharp clucking of the FBP's metal receiver on concrete.

It took Max a second to realize Gus was down for good as he edged forward past the front right wheel of the Jaguar to look before standing and shouting.

"Ninety-Nine! You ok?!"

"I'm fine Max!" 99 answered as she sat up and pushed herself quickly off the creeper which had stopped finally, inches from the work table at the west wall. As she did, she hurriedly tugged down the oil drenched hem of her dress, hoping desperately she was on time.

Brock, Wyatt and Flat-Nose were beginning to groan their way to consciousness as she joined Max.

"Here, watch em while I call the Chief." Max handed her the P38.

While 99 pointed the M57 at Brock and the Walther at Flat-Nose and Wyatt, Max put his back against the east wall and removed his right shoe. He twisted the heel to unlock the outsole of the shoe and then paused and looked down. He lifted his right foot to fine his gray sock, now drenched black with oil. Grimacing, Max removed the outsole, lifting the circular speaker to work the rotary dial underneath.

With the circular receiver where the heel had been to his ear, Max spoke into the flip-out circular speaker.

"This is Agent Eighty-Six calling CONTROL. Agent Eighty-Six calling CONTROL. Come in CONTROL.—Yes Chief!—Yes, before we get to Němec, I have a matter of overriding urgency which we need to discuss—what's CONTROL's protocols on dry cleaning bills incurred in the course of mission-related-gun-fights?"

Max immediately jerked his head away from the shoe phone, with his eyes shut and eyebrows arched as the Chief's voice streamed over the receiver in perfect imitation of an angry, rabid chipmunk overdosed on amphetamines.

As the endless chipmunk pitched vitriol continued streaming through, Max held the shoe phone along with said ornery chipmunk hollering towards 99 as he said sheepishly.

"The Chief is asking for you."

Which of course makes 99 sighed with air she could not spare from her lungs as she kept the guns aimed at their assailants while tilting back her head and rolling her eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Němec relaxed in the driver's seat as he inhaled the rich multi-layered flavor and scent of the corona sized, maduro cigar while he listened to and watched the large sectional garage door of their warehouse hideout rattle upwards propelled by its geared motor.

Despite all that had happened within the last hour and a half, his mind was only consumed with loathing aimed at the pathetic dark brown Peugeot 204 he sat in now, which he had borrowed as an unobtrusive get away from the Hungarian KAOS agent who was in charge of the gas station. Sure it was inconspicuous. But entirely unsuited to a man of Němec's stature and talent.

As Němec took the maduro from his mouth and exhaled, filling the interior of the 204 with the rich scented smoke, he realized even that could not obscure the aberration he sat in. As the garage door slid high enough, he put the cigar back between his teeth and pressed the clutch urging the humiliating Peugeot forward, unable to wait to get out of it.

As the 204 cruised into the large warehouse garage, the mental pictures Němec kept flipping through of his future car ie Porsche? Ferrari? Aston Martin?—was interrupted as he realized how dim the interior of the warehouse was. Less than half the florescent tubes in the ceiling were switched on.

As the KAOS agent pulled to a stop, he immediately noted the activity going on. At the long tables along the eastern wall, one of the veiled woman's lieutenants Gerd was there, dressed in a dark blue suit and white turtle neck. The sharply dressed agent was calling out orders to 5 of their men who were busy carrying and dumping what seemed to be boxes of papers all over the tables.

Němec's eyes behind his sunglasses however focused on the group of people standing before the loading bay at the Northern wall. He noted immediately the Oberführer, encased in his tailored black SS uniform, the striking black and silver baton tucked under his left arm. While he never did like the Nazi, for obvious reasons, he knew enough to fear him and the power he wielded. The sight of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords suspended from the high collar of the black leather M43 tunic beneath the Oberführer's Adam's apple enraged Němec further as he cut the engine. It reminded him that this filth had been honored for among other things, playing a part in the annexation and subsequent occupation of his home country and the globe clutching vulture insignia of KAOS on the Oberführer's left sleeve in place of a Swastika did nothing to curb the venom he held in check for the Nazi.

But Němec's trained focus cut off this pointless anger at the moment as his attention fell on the two figures standing on either side of von Graf. To his left, Kerstin, dressed in a simple dark brown skirt suit comprising an A-line pleated skirt that stopped about 2 inches above her knees and revealing the lower reaches of her stony quadriceps, and a form fitting cropped jacket with silvery colored blouse under it. Her tawny hair was pulled back neatly into a bun while her emerald irises glittered above her distinctive cheek bones followed by her smoothly tapering jawline.

But it was the second figure that held his attention, fittingly on the Oberführer's right. A lean yet wraith like figure in a knee length, black coat dress with 2 column of buttons, 3 on each side. The dress was form fitting, out lining her lean curves though it widened slightly below the neat hips. Black stockings covered her legs and a large black clutch was held in her black leather gloved hand at her side. And most striking of all, something which Němec never saw her without; the veil of black silk which surrounded her face and head, hanging down from the black draped turban on her head to settle over her broad shoulders. She stood so still that one could mistake her for a grim mannequin in a store window.

Němec's attention was diverted momentarily as Kerstin approached, her power packed hips swaying with a hypnotic rhythm, kitten heeled shoes clacking sharply on the concrete floor, the sculpted muscles of her bronzed calves flexing as she moved. Before he could open the door, Kerstin did it for him and he noticed that her luscious lips was spread in a broad smile that dripped with sensuality along with the playful glitter of her emerald eyes.

Němec eased himself to his full height, returning her smile as he did—all women want him eventually. As he slid past her smiling visage to walk towards von Graf and SS-19, he allowed his memory to run into pleasurable areas for a moment, super imposing images of what he would do to her, onto her skirt suited form now.

The sound of the wretched Peugeot's door closing followed by the heat of Kerstin's body close behind him brought a smirk to Němec's mouth as he contemplated his next conquest. Kerstin, he believed was likely less annoying than Pernilla and no one could have as big an ego as the heiress.

Němec stopped beyond an arm's length from the two senior KAOS agents, noting for the first time that the usual noise of machinery and work beyond the north wall and internal loading bays were strangely absent. His honed instincts began formulating possibilities as he nodded towards von Graf.

"Oberführer."

The only response from von Graf was the flashing of light reflected against his monocle indicating he had moved his head slightly to focus on the former StB operative which made the double silver oak leaves on his gorget patches catch the light slightly. Němec barely had time to contemplate this as SS-19's sharp, icy alto tone, low but clear and unrelenting, sliced through the air drowning out the clatter of Gerd and the rest of the men as they worked.

"Vhat happened?"

Němec was furious at the effort it took him to reply in a relaxed and suave manner that he saw as his true nature. Slowly removing the cigar from his teeth, to give himself time to calm down, he replied.

"Nudding I kant handle. Some hloupý CONTROL agents made za mistake of tlying to arrez me. No matta. All tucken cared ov!" Lifting the hand holding his maduro cigar, Němec extended his middle finger to tap it against his temple. "Zhey tot zhey could tlack me. But—I led zum eento tlap! Zhey are finished a roasting in peklo now!"

Němec finished his account and returned his cigar to his teeth but the following puff of multi-scented smoke that filled his lungs failed to warm him as SS-19's frost rimmed tone reached out again.

"Und HOW did zer 'stupid' CONTROL agents find you in zer first place?"

"How shood I know?" Němec shrugged nonchalantly while flicking his hidden eyes behind his sunglasses to assess the situation and von Graf's expression. "CONTROL haz viles on high level agents like me. I'm zure you knew zhis."

"Zer LAST place you should be looking at zer moment iz avay from me."

Němec's eyes flicked back to SS-19 and he could not keep his brows from frowning for he was certain no one could see through his sunglasses in the dim interior lights and his surveillance skills honed to perfection were undetectable. He could walk through a crowd while keeping his eyes on a target seemingly out of his line of sight without even turning his head. And yet…

SS-19 continued, her cold tone seeming to suck all the heat from the air around him.

"CONTROL haz viles on almost EVERYVUN een zhis unit. Incluzing Gerd und Kerstin who ver undercover at zer Cramley vor two MONTHS, leaving zheir pictures in zheir fake personnel files in zer hands of zer police und with CONTROL az vell—" Němec was fuming quietly at how he was barely able to control the trembling of his body now—as if some cold spectral hand had reached into him, gripped his spine and was shaking him like a sapling. "—yet no vun came looking for zhem, or any of zer uzzers. Vhy iz zhat?"

"ZHAT iz NOT my problem." Němec replied, with an upward tilt of his square chin, proud that he was still able to maintain his cool though he was shaking to his $500 leather dress shoes. "You shud vee THANKING me for helping you get rid of TWO CONTROL agents, incluzing zhat idiot Maxvell Shmart! Zumzhing NO ozzer KAOS agent so var been able to…"

"They FOUND you—" SS-19's voice slapped him like a frost wind shutting him up all the while standing as still as a statue. "—vecause you ver careless. YOU are zer ONLY—hloupý—vun in zhis katastrofa that you created. I gave orders for everyvun to refrain from zheir old habits during zhis entire operation und YOU vere zher only vun who could not follow orzers! Your endless cravings for zhose filthy coronas you stuff inside your mouth und vhich you carelessly left at zher newspaper store, allowed zhem to pin-point you in zheir viles which led zhem to your last conqvest which led zhem to your Swedish hračka! Und to cover up your stupidity—not only did you compromise zher petrol station; a high value KAOS' asset but alzo a sector of zher city zhat until now vas free from CONTROL scrutiny. KAOS had plans to utilize zhat area of Fourth und Vermont for other fronts incluzing a munitions depot to resupply our agents for city-wide missions but now thanks to you, CONTROL vill keep zhat area under surveillance for years to come, deLAYING plans vhich took years to formulate. All because of your dětinský incompetence!"

Němec could not decide what he was more furious at—that he could not stop shivering, or that SS-19 was using his own language to insult him. It was with great pleasure that he extended the index finger again from the hand in which he held his prized corona at her and spat.

"Dun't zhink you are zo smart you silly little dívka! Your entire operation vould not have veen POSSIBLE if not vor my surveillance and intelligence gazhering!"

"Ano. You are very good at following a map and DRIVING." Was the cold response.

"Bláhový dítě!" Němec spat tossing his cigar hand up. "I'm vinished vasting my skills in your patetický boční show! I'm going back to assasinating and torture vhere I um appreciated!"

SS-19 made no response for a moment which chilled Němec even though he placed the maduro between his teeth and filled his lungs again with gratifying cigar smoke. When she spoke again, he thought ice water had replaced blood in his veins.

"You are indeed—muž ve svém vlastním světě.—But een zhis vorld, you have failed KAOS for zer last time."

Like air being sucked out of a decompressing aircraft, the cold suddenly left him and Němec realized too late something he had ignored—the sensual heat of Kerstin now bathing his right side. His honed reflexes whipped his arm out with serpent like speed in a back hand punch only to have his slashing forearm smack harmlessly into the back of the tawny haired woman's intercepting wrist.

Agony exploded in Němec's ribcage as Kerstin's steel textured shin crashed home in a round kick from the side, the impact knocking maduro from his mouth, sunglasses from his face, fedora off his head and a cone of cigar smoke from his opened mouth as he doubled forward. Even so, he yanked back on his right arm only to realize Kerstin's right hand was locked around his wrist.

As SS-19 remained unmoving, face hidden behind her veil while the Oberführer found the grime in the ceiling of the garage much more interesting, Kerstin keeping hold of Němec's wrist delivered another shattering round kick to the man's ribs, feeling at least one snap against her shin. So she was slightly surprised when he managed to straighten and swing his left hand up to hit her right forearm, knocking off her hand on his wrist. Kerstin leaned her upper body to the left as the former StB agent's fist shot at her with lighting speed, feeling his fist whistle past her ear. Němec growled in rage and pain as he followed up with a left hook which Kerstin ducked under smoothly and her left foot lashed out in a front kick. Němec's trained reflexes crossed his forearms intercepting the smooth bronzed limb which still jarred his arms up to the shoulders with their power before the tawny haired girl yanked it back and it swept back in a blur in another direction.

Němec grunted sharply as Kerstin's sweeping shin smashed into the side of his right knee with a loud alarming crunch of joints and tendon causing him to wobble and both knees to bend slightly. As his useless right leg throbbed and burned hotter than his beloved Mark X's XKI6 engine, Kerstin titled slightly to her right as her left leg lashed upwards in an clockwise arc and despite his dire situation, Němec's misogynistic depravities could not keep him from enjoying the sight of the smooth, bronzed bulges of her calf muscle, iron toned quadriceps, ham string and sensual abductor muscles right down to the exposed white triangular bulge of her mons venus in her panties just before everything exploded into flashing lights as her high round kick landed in the side of his head.

The flashing lights meant the KAOS agent could not enjoy the sight of Kerstin's groin again as she lowered and then whipped her left leg back in a high counter-clockwise hook kick that slammed across his left temple backed by all the power of her powerful hamstrings. Although von Graf was yawning with boredom, it was impossible to see if SS-19 was even watching from behind her veil as Němec stumbled back, knees wobbling like a marionette with it's strings cut, face slack, eyes not seeing anything anymore, blood streaming from his left temple. Kerstin stepped in, spinning on her left shoe, right knee raised and as her back was turned to the Czech, her right leg extended and her stony quadriceps and hamstring drove her foot into a spinning reversed roundhouse kick that exploded across his jaw and snapping his head around.

Němec landed face down on the concrete floor, arms stretched out to either side with an echoing thump in the near empty warehouse garage. As Kerstin walked calmly over to stand closer to SS-19 and von Graf, Gerd and the KAOS driver with the halo of dark blond hair encircling his bald pate, strode over. They each grabbed an arm and hauled Němec off the floor, dragging him over to face SS-19. The ex-StB agent was barely conscious, body slack, head bowed forward.

"Töte ihn." SS-19's order sliced through her veil.

Kerstin reached behind her back and lifted the hem of jacket to reveal the grip of a semi-automatic pistol with a curved rear grip strap and the cocked hammer, sticking out above her waist band. Taking hold of the grip, she drew her Browning Hi-Power and stepped up to Němec, levelling it at his face as her thumb released the safety.

"Warte ab!" came the command from von Graf which made Kerstin pause and turned towards him, Browning still levelled at the semi-conscious KAOS operative.

For the first time SS-19 moved, turning her veiled face towards the Oberführer for a moment before she turned back to the helpless Němec, acknowledging as she snapped open her clutch and reached into it.

"Apologies Oberführer. You are right. Zhis ees my responsibility."

Kerstin lowered her weapon and stood to the side as SS-19 pulled her silenced Luger P08 from her clutch.

"Nein, nein." Von Graf smiled gently holding his black and silver baton out across SS-19's gloved hands to halt her. "I approved hiz selection, zo—"

With that von Graf held his black ceremonial baton vertically before him, the silver Iron Crosses and Wehrmacht eagles that decorated it's shaft glittering even in the dim light as did the diamonds encrusting the ornate silver endcaps. His left leather gloved hand holding the shaft, the Oberführer took hold of the bottom end cap and twisted it producing a 'click' and there was a ringing of steel sliding against steel as the parallel edged, 9 inch blade of a Kampfmesser 42 extended out from a slot in the center of the other endcap.

"—zhis vun ees on me." Von Graf declared with a sigh as he switched the shaft of the baton to his right gloved hand, blade pointing forward, lifted his arm and with a speed belying his age, hurled the baton forward like a spear.

The baton arrowed through the air in a black and silver flash. Němec convulsed violently in Gerd and the KAOS driver's grip, his head tossing violently back to stare at the ceiling, dislocated jaw twisted to one side and dropped as the blade plunged into his sternum, sinking all the way to the endcap. For a moment, he kept staring at the ceiling and then, his eyes went blank for the last time and his head dropped forward, twisted jaw hitting his chest.

Gerd and the driver continued to hold onto the dead KAOS agent as SS-19 took a step forward, reached out to close her leather gloved around the shaft of the baton and yanked the blade out with a crack of bone causing the corpse to jerk.

"You know vhat to do." SS-19 said.

Gerd nodded and with his subordinate, dragged the dead agent away towards the tables at the eastern wall where the other agents were now pouring gasoline from large cans over the tables and files that littered it and the floor.

SS-19 walked back towards von Graf, holding the baton with the blood drenched blade pointed downwards and Kerstin handed her a folded white handkerchief. She held it for a moment to confirm it was appropriately soaked in the required, colorless, low viscosity oil before proceeding to clean the blade.

Von Graf shook his head, light flashing from his monocle as he clucked his tongue.

"Czechs! Never can rely on zhem." He shrugged, the leather of his tunic creaking while SS-19 continued polishing the blood from the blade. "Vut, vhat can I zay? Zhey helped rid me of zhat pesky Heydrich who saw fit NEVER to listen to most of my recommendations und vithheld my promotions!"

"A grave mistake I am sure, Oberführer." SS-19 intoned with a final wipe of the blood streaked cloth, now leaving the blade silvery and clean again.

"Und you know vhat else vas a mistake? Dliving around Prague vith-OUT an armed escort! Und even BIGGER mistake?! Getting OUT to confront zer attackers alone instead of DLIVING avay vhen you had the chance! He thought he vas zer uber-ubermech itself!" von Graf scoffed rolling his eyes as SS-19 retracted the blade and handed back the baton to him. "I mean—vhat iz zer POINT of having your own military ving if not to protect your own arsch?!"

"Heez downfall vas assured vhen he failed to heed your counsel." SS-19 declared as Gerd and another KAOS agent doused Němec's body with gasoline.

Von Graf tilted his head as he nodded, pouting slightly as he said.

"Ja! Und my vithholzhing zer intelligence on zer assassination plot played a small part as vell."

SS-19's veiled head tilted slightly at this revelation and von Graf twirled the baton in his gloved fingers, causing the silver eagles and iron crosses to flash in the light as he shrugged.

"If he vasnt' going to listen—vhy bozher eem vith such minor details!"

"Indeed." SS-19 agreed nodding her veiled head before continuing "Thank you for getting us Němec's replacement so qvickly. But Oberführer, Němec vas unvortunately involved in much ov zer planning for zer next target. Inspite of…"

SS-19 was interrupted by a loud, jangling ring that seemed to emit from nowhere. Von Graf growled at the interruption, causing his cheek to twitch and light to flash off his monocle as it moved.

"Apologies, einen Moment bitte my dear." The Oberführer said with a raised gloved finger. "Eet ees my armband phone."

SS-19 remained as still as a statute as von Graf reached behind his KAOS symbol armband on his left sleeve with a gloved finger and thumb. When he drew his hand back, the jangling stopped and his index finger and thumb held an ear piece and a small conical microphone, each attached to a thin cable. Pulling it to his ear with a zipping sound of the cables as they extended from some hidden source behind the armband, the Oberführer fitted the ear piece into his ear and held the microphone to his mouth as he spoke.

"Guten Tag. Oberführer, here."

"Bonne après-midi, dear Oberführer!" The Marquise spoke into her receiver from her underground research facility.

The tall woman stood near one of the control panels at the west wall, dressed in a black velvet robe lined with sable fur at the neck but even the thick material and color failed to downplay the curves of her hips and gifted mounds of her breasts. The cord of her phone's receiver was attached to a receiver receptacle in the control panel itself. Behind her about 15 feet away in the center of the room were the 6 examination tables.

"Ah, Marquise." Von Graf greeted trying to sound unenthusiastic, while SS-19's eyes narrowed behind her veil as her only reaction. "Vhat eez your progress?"

"Alvays all biznez my Oberführer." The Marquise responded, her shiny luscious lips stretching in a smile. "I must blake you of zhat."

"Marquise, I'm very beezy at zer moment." Von Graf persisted glancing somewhat nervously at the veiled form of SS-19 less than an arm's length from him.

"Zer final component you requested eez almost ready." The Marquise reported just as business like though her full lower lip still pouted playfully ever so slightly even though von Graf could not see her.

"Almost?"

The Marquise turned to look towards the 6 examination tables where there were only 2 men left strapped to it. The tall, deep chested, big shouldered man that had been strapped to the second table now stood free in his undershirt and boxer shorts. Facing him about 8 feet away were the two black clad KAOS guards, now holding another captive between them, this one a young man in his late 20ties with soft side parted hair of dark brown, dressed in a dirty, crumpled light blue suit with no tie. The captive was barely able to stand, his bloodied face bent forward as the guards held him.

One of the scientists in the white lab coat with the KAOS insignia patch walked up to the deep chested man and handed him a Colt Trooper with a 4 inch barrel. The man's limpid dark eyes, pointed chin and neatly trimmed white moustache remained unmoving and expressionless as he took the revolver. Upon an order from the scientist barely audible at his distance, the white mustached man raised the Colt Trooper and the deafening roar of the weapon filled the underground space. The young man held by the guards convulsed violently, his head tossing back, soft dark brown hair flying as 2 .357 Magnum rounds pierced his chest and heart and a third round struck his solar plexus.

As White Moustache lowered the smoking Colt Trooper, the guards released the young man whose lifeless weight dropped him to the floor in a bloody heap between them. The scientist now issued another order and White Moustache lifted the revolver, pressing the muzzle to his temple and fired. Instead of the thunder of another shot, a loud click sounded. And the revolver continued clicking as White Moustache kept pulling the trigger again and again without a single expression on his face till the scientist ordered him to stop and took back the revolver.

Turning back to the control panel and her phone conversation, the Marquise replied simply.

"Ready."

Von Graf nodded a few times as he replied.

"Gut! Gut! Vielen Dank, Marquise! Your genius een zer vorkings of zer human mind ees unparalleled!"

As White Moustache laid back on his examination table tended to by the scientists and the guards dragged the bloodied corpse away, the Marquise smiled with a hand on the curve of her thrust out hip as she declared.

"Thank me at dinner tonight my Oberführer. Vhen I shall prove to you again my unparalleled genius vith UZZER parts of zer human body."

With that, she locked the receiver back into it's receptacle.

Even though she did not hear any part of the conversation, SS-19's lips tightened with restrained fury as she was absolutely certain of what the last part of it entailed based on the Oberführer's momentarily blank, blinking expression, before he seemed to come to his senses and pretended to speak into the microphone though the line was already dead.

"Uuuh…Ja Marquise! I…vee vill discuss zhat later. Good day Marquise!"

SS-19 forced her heart to slow and calm itself as von Graf fumbled with the ear piece and microphone as the wires retracted and he stuffed them back behind the armband as he spoke.

"Uh…Sorry. Ja…vhat vere vee saying?"

SS-19 continued, speaking without causing a flutter to her veil.

"Despite zer precautions vee have taken, it might be vise to forgo zhis next target."

"Nein, nein, nein!" Von Graf shook his gray head, along with his baton causing the large endcap to become a silver blur as he bent his head. "Zhis next objective is crucial een zer long run for KAOS."—Looking up and bringing SS-19s reflection into his monocle, he asked. "Doez zer Czech know avout zer final objective?"

"Nein." SS-19 confirmed "Some of zer uzzer men ver involved een zer reconnaissance und planning, but only Kerstin und Gerd knows vhat zer final target ees."

"Gut! Gut!" Von Graf nodded. "Effective compartmentalization of information!"

"Just as you taught me Oberführer." SS-19 bowed her veiled head as flames leaped into the air by the eastern wall with a crackling roar and the temperature in the warehouse jumped several degrees.

Inspector Clayton stepped around the dirty puddles of water, left over from the battle between the firemen and the flames as he surveyed the charred remnants of the big warehouse garage. Much of the walls were charred and smoke still hung near the ceiling like indoor rain clouds.

Two men in white were lifting the partially charred body they had found up on a stretcher, covered in a white sheet. As the firefighters began packing up their gear and heading out, a heavy set man in a rumpled tan suit, black tie and gray fedora, his pot belly starting to hang out over the belt, trotted over to Clayton with some items in his hand.

"Well Phil? It's him aint it?" Clayton asked without preamble.

Sergeant Phillip Krantz nodded his head of ash gray hair which turned white as they extended into his sideburns.

"It fits the description of the guy that was in the newsstand." Krantz confirmed, the heavy jowls on his face wobbling as he spoke. "Some of the stuff wasn't completely burned. Here."

Clayton grimaced looking at the soggy partially burnt pieces of file covers and documents.

"Can barely make anything out of it." He shrugged. "But great thing bout foreign spies running round town robbing banks—we don't have to. Get everything we find ready and cordon off the place. I'll call the government agents and it's their problem."

"We should handle EVERY bank robbery like this." Krantz approved with a lopsided grin as he strolled off.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

The sliding door parted and Maxwell Smart, decked out in a fresh dim gray suit and double-breasted vest with a narrow crimson tie entered the outer-office and walked over to the desk of the Chief's assistant.

"Hodgkins, is the Chief back?" Max announced.

86 had to squint a little as Hodgkins looked up, causing the light from the ceiling to reflect off his bald pate into his eyes. The always, haggard looking, slack cheeked assistant replied in his usual manner when addressing Max—without much enthusiasm, under laced with dread.

"He's not in yet."

"That's strange." Max squinted pushing his jacket sleeve back to check his watch. "He knew I was on my way."

"You might have something there." Hodgkins sighed looking back down to his paper work and leaving his bald head to glare at Max.

Max scowled at the scrawny man, now busy writing on a myriad of forms that covered his desk.

"I MEANT—the Chief told us to meet im' here right after we showered and changed! He was supposed da head right back to CONTROL once he finished supervising the clean-up at the gas station. Aren't they done yet?"

The sliding door to the waiting area hummed open again before Max could tell if Hodgkins was even bothering to reply.

"Hi Max." The modulated tones washed over 86 like a revitalising spring breeze that he felt even through the back of his sport's jacket, shirt and vest, turning him around half wondering why it always seemed to affect him like this.

99's lean calves and feet, now in rich brown kid leather, low heeled boots carried her oil-free, bathed form into the waiting area, clothed in a clean long sleeved knitted orange top with a folded turtle neck and knee length scarlet A line skirt that flapped slightly about her strong thighs as she walked. A dark blue cropped jacket held together with twin columns of 3 buttons each topped her new ensemble.

"The Chief isn't in yet." Max reported.

"That's strange." 99 reflected, her large blue eyes narrowing slightly as she moved her right hand to join her left which rested on her silvery gray quilt surfaced hand bag hanging at her ribs by a light chain from her left shoulder. "When we left, they were almost done searching the gas station.—" 99 leaned slightly to one side to look past Max at Hodgkin's reflective bald pate. "—Hodgkins, did the Chief call about any delays?"

Light again flashed in Max's eyes causing him blink like a confused owl as Hodgkins looked up and while his face was slacked and haggard as ever, his eyes were suddenly full of life now, seemingly relieved from almost 10 years of stress and he almost even smiled as he replied.

"He called to say he finished processing the gas station with Professor Windish's team but he'll be delayed as the police called him to check out another scene."

"Why didn't you say that before?!" Max demanded, hands on his hips, eyes boring towards Hodgkins like an angry bulldog.

"You didn't ask." Hodgkins replied simply with a shrug of his small shoulders in his black suit before continuing with a tilt of his bald head at 99. "And also, she sometimes makes me a delicious YET blood pressure friendly chicken sandwich with light spicy mustard and fresh tuna salad.—And you don't."

"It's my pleasure Hodgkins." 99 smiled warmly nodding at him, taking another 5 years off Hodgkin's eyes.

"I bring you lunch too!" Max scoffed tossing his hand. "Why, right in the middle of that KAOS trial, I took the time da bring you a corned beef sandwich with double imported pastrami and fries from Burt's Delicatessen!"

"I couldn't EAT that, it's bad for my blood pressure and cholesterol!" Hodgkins grumped.

"That's RIGHT!" Max said hooking one thumb into his vest pocket and pointing a finger at Hodgkins to emphasize a point. "Demonstrating to you how MUCH I respect you and care about your health too!"

Hodgkins put his hand out before him, palm down and fingers grasping an imaginary item, with a declaration that made 99 exhaled a pained breath at the truth in the assistant's take-out tale and turned her head away, closing her big eyes to gain some strength.

"You waved it in front of my nose and said neh-neh-neh-NEH-NEH-you-can't-have-THIS!"

"Because I—CARED!" Max declared with a self-satisfied nod as he hooked his other thumb into his vest pocket.

Wishing to preserve what blood flow he had left, Hodgkins turned to 99 and informed.

"The Chief told me to tell you two things Ninety-Nine."

"What's that Hodgkins?"

"First thing—when Ninety-Nine gets here, she and Max can wait inside his office for him."

Which caused Max to grimace and growl at Hodgkins.

"A—GAIN! WHY didn't you just tell me that when I GOT here?!"

"Second thing—" Hodgkins continued before turning to glare at Max as he finished. "—DON'T let Max in his office before Ninety-Nine gets here!"

Max tosses up his hands and rolls his eyes up at the ceiling, exclaiming to whichever higher powers that were still sane enough to listen.

"You misunderstand ONE Presidential directive and misdirect ONE naval fleet to Africa!"

"Thank you Hodgkins." 99 smiled, ushering a growling Max towards the office door. "Please let the Chief know we're in there when he gets here."

"I really hope KAOS didn't pull off another robbery." 99 expressed as she eased herself into the armchair in front of the Chief's desk.

"Well Ninety-Nine—" Max said in deep thought near her, his left index and thumb grasping his chin while his right thumb still in his vest pocket. "—we have to look at this from both sides of the coin! On the bad side, if KAOS gets away with any more money, they'll be set to finance their operations around the world for the next five to ten years, threatening the freedom of every man, woman and child with their nefarious schemes for world domination! AND—CONTROL will be the ONLY thing standing in their way! So on the bright side…"

"The forces of good will ALWAYS be there to stop KAOS?" 99 asked.

"Even better." Max declared nodding his head sideways. "A decade of JOB SECURITY for the forces of good."

As 99 pressed her lips together and turned her head to roll a sideways glare at Max, the auto wooden door to the office slides open and in hurried the Chief, his brown tweed sports jacket still showing a few smudges of oil from the gas station and the cuffs of his dark trousers looked darker with silvery streaks. Perspiration gleamed on his forehead but he seemed focused and jubilant as he shook the thick brown file he carried at them.

"Ah! Max! Ninety-Nine! Good thing you're both here!"

"Was there another robbery Chief?" 99 asked as the Chief hurried behind his desk and dropped into his chair.

"Not quite." The Chief said shaking his head opening the file before he paused to raise his hands in self-admonishment. "Again, I'm so glad that you're both alright! I was so FIXED on getting Němec and stopping KAOS because of the trouble we're in with the President—" he paused to put his hands down on the table. "—It never oc-CURED to me that it could be a trap!"

"Don't worry Chief." Max shrugged. "Nothing a shower and a change of clothes couldn't cure."

The Chief nodded his head fervently in a rare acknowledgment of Max's humor, gesturing at his stained brown sports jacket.

"Well, I could use that myself."

"The tiles in my shower are a whole different color now and I don't think I can bear to read my next water bill!" 99 laughed softly.

"Same here." Max added. "And the floor of my car! If I scraped all the oil off and put it into my tank, I could drive to the West coast and back five times. Hadda send it to the car wash—" He paused to squint one eye up at the ceiling. "—Come to think of it—it might'ev been cheaper da just run my-SELF through the car wash too."

"Well I'm glad you two are alright!" the Chief declared finding enough time to smile for a moment.

"So the gas station was a KAOS front?" 99 queried.

"That's right." The Chief nodded leaning back in his chair. "The mechanics, gas jockey and the cashier in the convenience store—all KAOS agents. When we ran their photos through our Automatic Comparison File, we found a match on almost every one of them. The Hungarian with the red beard—we identified him as a high ranked KAOS agent named Endre Kárpáti. He was likely the one in charge of the front."

"What were they a front for exactly?" 99 asked, her delicate brows flexed in a perplexed frown.

"They served as a message retrieval and drop point where KAOS agents made purchases from the convenience store for items that contained instructions for their missions. A secret meeting room between the convenience store and the garage, specialized equipment supply depot aaaand—a gas station."

"I'm sorry?" 99 was taken a back somewhat.

"Yes, it seems—" the Chief continued gesturing with both hands, fingertips inches from each other before him. "—all KAOS agents who go to the station gets a free refill and full work up on their car."

Max's eyes popped as he leaned forward, jaw dropping slightly as he exclaimed.

"They get free—GAS?! I have to pay for my own BULLETS! AND forty-dollar security deposits on throwing knives, WHICH was forfeited because I left the knife in the chest of that KAOS agent in Sipaliwini!"

The Chief lifted his shoulders in his oil stained tweed jacket and lifted his hands as he replied.

"We're operating on a limited budget. Next time, make it a point to retrieve all throwing knives you put into your enemies."

Max squinted at the Chief, thumbs hooked into his vest as he declared.

"He FELL into a pond of hungry PIRANHAS!"

The Chief shrugged again.

"Next time, attach your CONTROL-issued titanium reinforced fishing line to it!"

"I LOST my CONTROL-issued titanium reinforced fishing line, catching LUNCH two weeks earlier in Ecuador." Max grimace

"Why didn't you get a new one before you went to Suriname?" the Chief frowned

"Because I didn't pay the thirty-dollar security deposit."

"Why didn't you pay it?!"

"I needed the money for the THROWING knife deposit!"

With that, the Chief squeezed his eyes shut, bent his head and pinched the bridge of his nose with his right thumb and index finger.

"Chief, did the KAOS agents arrested tell us anything about the robberies?" 99 interjected hoping to again stabilize the Chief's blood pressure.

The Chief took a deep breath before looking up with renewed strength.

"No. They weren't connected to the robbery unit at all. They were just told by Němec he was being followed and to stop you when you both turned up at the gas station."

"So we're back to square one? We have nothing?"

"Not quite." The Chief's eyes lit up as he shook a finger and pointed at his file. "As I was leaving the gas station, Hodgkins called me with a message from Inspector Clayton of the Metropolitan PD. Apparently, the fire department responded to a fire at a warehouse. When the fire was put out, they discovered a body in it."

99's large blue eyes widened as she gasped while the Chief continued.

"The fire department informed the police and when Inspector Clayton arrived on the scene, they realized the partially burnt body's physical description matches that of Němec. That's when they called me and I headed over immediately with Professor Windish and his team, causing my delay."

"Was it him?" this from Max.

"Oh yes." The Chief confirmed. "Professor Windish managed to lift his fingerprints despite the burnt state of the body and we've matched it against our file on Němec. And he wasn't killed by the fire either. Sharp force trauma, nine inch blade, straight into the heart through the sternum."

"How terrible!" 99 breathed out before realizing. "They must have killed him because we connected him to the robberies."

"But that's not all." The Chief turned his attention to the files where he shuffled through a few items.

When Max and 99 leaned in to look, they appeared to be scraps of charred paper inside transparent plastic coverings.

"The police recovered some of these from the warehouse. The fire department managed to put out the flames before they were completely destroyed. Do you recognize this?"

The Chief handed over one of the plastic clad pieces of burnt paper. Max and 99 studied it for a moment before she exclaimed.

"It…it looks like a sketch of a street with positions of the stores on either side…there!" 99 pointed with a smooth finger. "There's a newspaper stand marked out here. This…this is a diagram of the area where one of the armored car robberies took place Chief!"

"The one where Němec posed as the newspaper vendor." The Chief declared before switching over to another two pieces of charred paper. "And these are diagrams for the intersections where they robbed the other two cars. And here—" The Chief shuffled through the plastic bags and produced one containing a larger folded piece of paper with most of the edges burnt away. "—I'm very sure is a diagram of the lobby and the ball room within the Cramley where the diamond trade fair took place. You can see the exits and entrances all marked out, the position of the diamond displays, the kitchen in the ballroom, route from the lobby to the fair, all drawn in great detail. What do you make of it Max?"

Max lifted his chin at the charred diagram and announced with absolute certainty.

"Their heat went out."

Which of course caused both 99 and the Chief to frown for several moments before the latter asked.

"What?!"

Max pointed at the burnt paper in the Chief's hand and explained again.

"Their heat went out. That's why they had to burn all this paper da stay warm." 86 shook his head, clucking his tongue. "Seriously bad fire hazard! You should NEVER have an open flame indoors unless it's over a stove or in a fireplace! They should'ev just called a repairman for their heater Chief."

As 99 rolled her eyes towards Max, the Chief's hands shook as though he was having a seizure as he exclaimed.

"NO MAX! This wasn't' an ACCIDENT! The warehouse was the robbery unit's headquarters! They killed Němec and fearing he may have been followed, they abandoned their hiding place and BURNED everything to erase all the evidence!"

Max tilted his head back, mouthing an 'oh' before nodding and said.

"AND at the same time, their heat went out?" 86 stuck his lower lip out as he added. "Talk about killing two birds with one stone."

99's heart jumped as she saw the Chief dropped the plastic covers he was holding and closed his eyes, his face drooping as though he was aging another twenty years within seconds, right before her.

"Chief," 99 said placing a hand on the Chief's forearm to get his attention and to hopefully refocus him and stave off the heart attack she was sure may be lurking nearby like an ambush predator ready to strike at any time. "did any items survive that could give us a lead on the robbery ring's new hideout or next target?"

Her touch seemed to energize the Chief again, bringing color back to his sagging cheeks as he took a deep breath and flipped through the other plastic covers inside the file until he found the one he sought.

"This one." The Chief said showing it to them both. "Now, it's too badly burnt to tell what it refers to exactly, but based on the lines and measurements marked out—I believe it's the blueprint of a building."

"Could it be the Cramley Chief?" was Max's question.

"I don't think so." The Chief shook his head as he stabbed a finger at the paper within the plastic. "The dimensions don't match the hotel. And also, if you look closely in the corner here, where the address is usually indicated. You can make out the letters 'a-s' and number '2'. The 'a-s' is probably part of the word 'Washington' in Washington D.C. But as for the number '2', there's no such digit in the Cramley's address."

"You believe this could be their next target Chief?" 99 asked.

"That's right Ninety-Nine." The Chief affirmed. "So it is crucial we try to find out WHAT building this blue print refers to. But there are hundreds of buildings in Washington D.C with the number '2' in it."

"But Chief it's impossible!" Max grimaced gesturing at the remnants of the schematic. "There's practically nothing left! It'll take us forever to find it."

"We have to TRY Max!" the Chief declared. "If we don't stop this next robbery, the President is going to lose faith in us and there's already talk of another budget cut soon with CONTROL's name on it!"

"ANOTHER budget cut?!" Max exploded, eyes popping. "Guess I'll be going fishing for that throwing knife after all!"

"Chief, look at this." 99 pointed to one curved burnt edge of the paper. "There…there's something scribbled here."

The Chief and Max leaned in closer.

"You're right Ninety-Nine." The Chief said quickly reaching into his drawer and retrieved a large rectangular magnifying glass which he placed over the area.

As the scribbles were magnified several times, the Chief slowly deciphered.

"R-E…the next letter looks like an R again. Then another letter 'T', then the words 'main plan'…more of it burnt out then…G-DER-PR-…I can't make out what's next…"

99 and Max leaned in closer to look at the magnified remains of document for a while before the former pointed with a slender finger.

"I think the last letter is a 'w'. A capital W."

"Right!" the Chief declared leaning back and flicked the magnifying glass as he repeated each letter. "A series of words beginning with G, the next word with the letters 'D-E-R' in it, followed by another word beginning with the letters 'P-R' and the last word beginning with 'W'!" the Chief leaned back sighing. "That's all. That's all that's left! It's not enough to make sense of it!"

"Main plan." 99 thought, her blue eyes narrowed with focus. "Chief, what if R-E is left over from the word 'REFER' and 'T' could simply be 'TO'. REFER TO."

The Chief lifted a finger wagging affirmatively in her direction.

"Yes. Yes, Ninety-Nine that could be it. It's saying 'Refer to', some kind of 'main plan'. That means THIS plan is maybe just a smaller part of the whole schematic."

"Maybe the 'main plan' is here somewhere." Max said shuffling the contents of the file about.

It only took a second before they were disappointed again.

"Nothing! That's all there is!" the Chief exclaimed in frustration.

Max squinted up at the ceiling as he repeated the words while both the Chief and 99 mulled over the words silently.

"G, D-E-R, W. G, D-E-R, W. G, D-E-R, W. G, D-E-R, W. G, D-E…" Max stopped, his eyes popping at the ceiling as realization lit up his expression. "Oh my god! I DON'T BELIEVE IT CHIEF!"

"Oh Max! You figured it out?!" 99 exclaimed, her blue eyes flashing and face lit up brighter than a spring morning.

"Well DONE Max!" the Chief exclaimed, gesticulating with his hands desperately, eyes wide and an excited smile lighting up his tired face.

"And I can't believe it Chief! I just CAN'T believe IT!" Max exclaimed, eyes wide and hands extended with palms up.

"What is it?! What is it?!" the Chief asked, wringing his hands so hard you could hear the knuckles pop.

Max, eyes wide with absolute disbelief, pointed upwards and declared.

"Maintenance STILL hasn't removed the mold spots from your ceiling and you called them TWO WEEKS ago!"

99's eyes closed feeling as though she had not slept for those 2 weeks while the Chief looked up at the ceiling as well before breaking out in convulsions, fists clenched, on the verge of a mental breakdown before he exploded.

"FORGET ABOUT THE MOLD MAAAAAX!"

As Max backed away grinning sheepishly and the Chief dropped back into his chair, suddenly looking 10 years older, 99 continued squinting at the burnt document hoping to pull the Chief back from his encroaching heart attack and stroke.

"Chief I know this is a stretch but…" 99 pushed the schematic over the table towards the Chief pointing to where the address would have been. "Based on the position of the letters 'a-s' in relation to the edge of the paper which isn't burnt away, it…it seems too large a space to spell out 'Washington D.C" and too SHORT a space for Washington, District of Columbia'."

The Chief's eyes widened again as he leaned forward turning his head slightly as he spoke.

"It's possible the next target isn't IN Washington, D.C at all!"

"That doesn't help Chief!" Max exclaimed incredulously tossing up his hands. "We've just widened the search from Washington D.C to ANYWHERE in the United States!"

"Chief, do we have ANY theories on where KAOS might hit next so we can try to narrow our search?" came 99's inquiry.

The Chief placed his elbows on his desk as gestured with his hands, just inches from each other as he explained.

"After robbing the diamond fair, they switched to armored cars. Maybe they've decided it's easier to get hard cash instead of items which they'd have to resell for legal tender. With cash, they could easily launder it instead of having to find black market buyers in the case of the diamonds." Raising his right hand and a finger, the Chief declared. "It's my belief, KAOS might try for a big score of cash by targeting the Federal Reserve Bank here in Washington D.C. So I've already issued a warning to the Federal Reserve here to tighten their security with the police on alert and ready to respond to them or any bank in D.C should the alarm be raised and CONTROL would be called in immediately. But I anticipated KAOS would expect this, which is why I thought this blueprint would refer to some other high value target in D.C. Now I realize, KAOS being exceedingly clever, has decided on a target OUTSIDE of D.C altogether!"

99's blue eyes lit up turning them almost into sapphires as she exclaimed.

"Chief! If KAOS wants a large cash rich target, they could still go after one of the other Federal Reserve Banks outside of Washington!"

Alarm now gripped he Chief's expression as he shook a finger.

"Yes! Yes! You're right Ninety-Nine!"

"A-S!" The Chief's eyes lit up and he stabbed the desk with a finger urgently. "We'll focus on the Federal Reserve banks with locations containing those two letters in that order! There's…Nashville! Aaaaand…Seattle, Washington…not to mention any of them in Texas!"

"Or Dallas! This is hopeless!" Max exclaimed shaking his hand at the charred remains of the blue print and the sole tether they have to the next objective in KAOS's nefarious scheme.

"Wait!" 99's eyes narrowed as she pressed her slender fingers to her forehead, trying to remember something. "Chief, the…the letters G, D-E-R, W. I'm just guessing but…if they're referring to some kind of schematic, the 'main plan'—what if these letters refer to the 'architect!' The architect who drew up the plans!" As the Chief's face began lighting up again while Max's eyebrows twitched like caterpillars chasing each other over the last leaf on a branch, 99's blue eyes widens as she exclaims. "GRA-ham—An-DER-son—PRO-bst and—"

"WHITE!" the Chief finished for her. "You've DONE it Ninety-Nine!"

"So all we gadda do now is figure out which Federal Reserve Bank was built by an architect who liked graham crackers along with his son and paints ALL the buildings he designs in WHITE!" Max declared swinging a triumphant fist up in the air before he frowned and tilted his head at what he just said as he pondered. "Wait…why would the guy Probst wanna hog in on the crackers…"

"It's NOT someone who likes graham CRACKERS!" the Chief yelled throwing his arms up in the air, fists shaking and eyes bulging like an epileptic monkey.

"Max." 99's soothing voice washed over them both as she touched 86's arm. "Graham, Anderson, Probst & White is one of the most influential architectural firms in the United States! They were instrumental in shaping the face of Chicago's architectural landscape."

Max squinted in thought before bending slightly towards her.

"Including a shop that sells high quality graham crackers?"

"No Max." 99 shook her head gently as her warm smile somehow sent a glowing sensation through Max's arm where her hand was though he managed not to show it. "One of their most famous works, is the building for the Federal Reserve Bank of—Kansas City."

"Which—" the Chief added. "—is located in Kansas City, Missouri at Nine-TWO-Five Grand! That's where the number TWO fits in! KAOS must have somehow stolen a copy of the building schematics!"

"But Chief." Max turned back to his superior. "Something bothers me here. The Federal Reserve banks usually hold just five million dollars in their vaults, short of the one in New York. And KAOS already ripped off TWENTY million dollars from the diamond fair alone!

99 sighed, nodding.

"Max is right, Chief. It seems a lot of trouble just to get LESS than what they've already made off with. All of the Federal Reserve Bank buildings are heavily guarded and their vaults would be a challenge even for KAOS' laser cutters! It's a lot of risk and resources involved for very little gain."

"All valid points, though, five million dollars is five million dollars to KAOS, unless…" the Chief ended his sentence prematurely as his thoughts raced for a few moments before his eyes squinted in decision and he snatched up his phone.

"Hello Hodgkins? Get me the Federal Reserve Board."

It took only a few moments for the call to be routed to the correct individual and Max and 99 listened intently to the conversation.

"Hello, Mister Chairman." The Chief greeted and proceeded to explain while shaking his left hand with thumb pressed to the index finger for emphasis. "Good afternoon sir. This is the Chief of CONTROL. We have reasons to believe that KAOS is planning to rob one of the Federal Reserve buildings. Specifically, the one in Kansas City.—That's right. But to be sure, could you tell me, how much does the bank's vault contain at the moment.—" Everyone waited with bated breath as the Chief listened and their anxiety did not subside as the Chief's eyes widened with apparent alarm before he replied. "—Thank you Mister Chairman! Don't worry, my men and I will be there to take charge of security and stop KAOS when they strike. I'll get my men ready right now. Please call the police and have them on alert. When I arrive I'll coordinate with them on the ground. Yes, thank you Mister Chairman."

The Chief did not hang up the phone but immediately dialed his assistant again.

"Hodgkins! This is a Magenta Alert! I repeat, a Magenta Alert! Mobilize every available agent we have, fully armed with body armor. Get professor Windish to issue us with sufficient amounts of the antidote to Super Sleep. Then contact the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and have him arrange a military transport for us direct to Kansas City, Missouri."

With that the Chief put down the phone and looked back to Max and 99.

"What's happened Chief?" 99 asked anxiously.

The Chief's expression grew even graver as he explained shaking a finger before him for emphasis.

"It's as I feared. Yes, normally the Federal Reserve's vault holds around five million dollars. But the chairman informs me that the Kansas City federal reserve just received a shipment of newly engraved banknotes today from the Central Bank—THIRTY million dollars! It's due to be distributed tomorrow morning so tonight, the vault in Kansas City will be sitting on nearly FORTY million dollars!"

Max nodded with a pouting lower lip and tilt of his head as he added.

"And all clean and crisp too. Feels good in your wallet."

"Alright!" the Chief declared. "Our men should be mobilized in under twenty minutes. Max! You take charge and lead them to Kansas City."

"Right Chief." Max nodded.

"Ninety-Nine, you assist Max."

"Right Chief!"

"When you get to the Federal Reserve in Kansas City, coordinate with the security of the bank building. They'll be expecting you. DON'T let KAOS know you're there, meaning you CANNOT move the cash! We don't want to scare them off." The Chief emphasized his hands before him. "This is our ONLY chance to catch them all in the act! We…"

A ringing sound interrupted the Chief and he immediately picked up the phone.

"Yes Hodgkins, what…"

His expression became perplexed as the ringing continued. Max and 99 starts looking about them for the source of the ringing as well. Placing the receiver back down, the Chief's expression finally lit up with realization.

"It's my presidential hotline!" he exclaimed. "He must want an update! It's lucky we have some good news to tell him!"

99 got up as the Chief stood as well and flicked a switch on the intercom control box on his desk. The wide bookcase on the wall to the left of the Chief's desk slid aside to reveal a hidden wall behind it.

Two narrow metal filing cabinets about chest high were positioned against the left and right sides of the hidden section. On top of the left cabinet was a golden statuette of a gold eagle with it's wings spread while some form of golfing trophy—likely the Chief's stood on the right cabinet. Mounted high on the hidden wall were two rifles, one a Winchester lever action style weapon and the other a rifle likely from the World War II era, with their upward pointing barrels crossed. Beneath their crossed barrels was mounted a semi-automatic pistol with a long barrel and receiver but somewhat short grip.

But the most incongruous item on the wall, just below the pistol, at the level of their heads, staring at them, was a large white, pointed head of a stuffed bull cattle, it's nearly arm length horns sticking out from the sides of it's head with tuffs of brown fur at their base. The ringing, now louder with the secret panel opened, issued directly from the solemn stuffed cattle head.

The trio walked up to it, with Max and 99 standing by the cabinet on the left with the eagle statuette while the Chief took the bull by the horns—or at least, by it's right horn and tugged at it.

The ringing continued unabated as the Chief tugged a second time and grimacing with effort he tugged harder, knuckles on both hands white from his grip on the horn. The cattle head, fortunately gave no protest of course.

"Do you need any help Chief?" 99 offered.

"No problem Ninety-Nine!" grunted the Chief as he bent his knees and continued wrestling with the horn and growled a second later. "THIS is the most con-FOUNDED idea for a phone the lab has come UP with in five YEARS!"

"Well, you have to admit Chief, it's a great nod to the President." Max nodded with a lopsided smile.

"I suppose!" The Chief growled, beads of perspiration beginning to break out on his forehead. "Arrrgghh!"

With that final exclamation, the cattle's right horn popped out of it's, trailing a long flexible telephone cord extended from the hole in the side of the bull's head where the horn had been to the base of it's detached horn. The ringing finally ceased and the Chief blew out a breath as he straightened, holding the horn.

Max nudged 99 with his elbow excitedly, whispering.

"The President, Ninety-Nine! The President! Most people go their whole LIVES without a chance da talk directly to the top guy!"

99 nodded, smiling happily at the childlike joy on Max's face.

"That's right!" the Chief declared, back straight, with the horn held vertically close to his chest as he stood next to the one-horned bull's head. "There is no greater privilege for any soldier or spy than to address the President of the United States. It calls for CALM—HONOUR—PRIDE, and DIGNITY!"

With that, the Chief put the base of the horn to his ear with the telephone cord trailing from it and bent forward to speak to the stuffed bull's head.

"Good morning Mister President!—Yes! Yes indeed Mr President! I'm just discussing the case and evidence with my two TOP agents right now and I believe we have a lead!—That's right Mister President. We believe we have deduced KAOS' next target! It's the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. I have just spoken to the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and they stand ready to assist us. My men are on a Magenta alert! They'll be on their way to Kansas City within the hour!—Ah huh.—Ah huh." The chief nodded to the bull as he listened to his commander-in-chief. "Uh Huh.—Yes sir, Mister President. The men will be led by my top agent Maxwell Smart, agent Eighty-Six.—Uh huh—uh huh—uuuuuh—HUH."

The Chief appeared to listen intently and Max and 99 watched as the veteran spy's expression changed from intense concentration, to realization, to concern and finally enlightened decision.

"Yes Mister President!" the Chief nodded at the bull's nose and mouth. "I will carry out your orders to-the-LETTER! You can count on ME Mister President.—Yes Mister President, I promise even if we catch the entire KAOS robbery ring, I will NOT report to you during round-up time! Thank you Mister President! Good bye!"

With that, the Chief straightened and with a sigh shoved the horn back into the bull's head and he had to strain and twist the horn before it locked back in place.

"I HAVE to get the lab to get make a more PORTABLE version of this!" the Chief exclaimed gesturing at the non-reacting bull's head.

"Maybe they could make the bull talk and listen at the same time." Max shrugged eliciting a muffled laugh from 99 which made her bend her head slightly, causing her brunette hair to brush her shoulders.

"Long as it doesn't' give me a HERNIA every time I need to answer it!" the Chief declared tossing his hands up in dismay at the impassive bull before they proceeded back to his desk.

"So we're proceeding as planned Chief?" Max inquired hooking his thumbs into his dim-gray vests' pockets.

"No not exactly." The Chief replied as he flicked the switch on his intercom control again to slide the bookcase back into place over the secret wall and the secret bull. "Due to the crucial nature of this next mission and the President's—concern—over CONTROL's recent failures—he has ordered me to lead the men myself. I'd like the two of you to stay here and go over all of Němec's belongings that we confiscated from Pernilla Johansson's suite. Even once we get the entire unit RED-handed, I want to make sure NOTHING gets in the way of us prosecuting them in court!"

"But Chief, won't you need our help?" 99 inquired bending slightly at the right side of the Chief's desk and placing her hands on the top.

"Don't worry Ninety-Nine. I'll have at my disposal every available CONTROL agent and I'll be getting the Kansas City police department's in on this as well."

"Wait a minute Chief, I don't understand!" Max exclaimed. "Why can't I take charge of our agents in Kansas City?!"

The Chief grimaced tilting his head, his reply infused with barely restrained sarcasm.

"Because, it seems our Commander-In-Chief doesn't' TRUST you Max!"

Max's eyes popped as he scoffed.

"Why NOT?! What could I have POSSIBLY done da make him not TRUST me?!"

"Oh, I don't know," the Chief replied wagging his bald head from side to side. "Maybe something to do with the Minne-SOTA incident!"

At that, Max stared up at the ceiling, tossed his hands up and exclaimed at the mold there, making 99 bow her head slowly where she remained bent over with her hands on the Chief's desk and the Chief to squeeze his eyes shut and pinch the bridge of his nose.

"You accidentally order the saturation bombing of ONE—CORN-field!"


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

The 16-storey gray façade of the Federal Reserve Building rose prominently against the darkening skies of Kansas City where it had stood at 925 Grand Boulevard since it's completion in 1921. An unmovable bulwark in perfect symbolism of it's purpose as one of the headquarters of the Federal Reserve system which had existed for over half a century.

Inside the security command and control room, closed-circuit camera monitors lined two entire walls, displaying black-and-white images of almost every part of the building as well as the surrounding roads and streets. Several uniformed security personnel at the consoles of these monitors, watching them closely.

In the large room were several CONTROL agents with their sports jackets off, wearing titanium/steel alloy bibs over their shirts, vests and ties. They stood about the room as they checked their M1928A1 Thompson Submachine guns or more compact MAC-10s fitted with suppressors.

The Chief himself stood behind the uniformed security personnel watching the monitors along with them as he secured his own body armor.

"Keep a sharp eye on those cameras men." He said to the security men. "KAOS will likely make their move late into the night, hoping to catch us off guard. But together, we'll be ready for them."

Some of the guards nodded in acknowledgement without taking their eyes off the screens. One of the CONTROL agents, armored bib over his white shirt, with side parting dark hair and an oval face walked over to the Chief with two Thompson Submachine guns.

"Here you go Chief. Loaded and ready."

"Thanks Seventy-Four." The Chief nodded as he took the weapon fitted with a 100 round drum magazine.

"All the men are in place." 74 reported as he checked the safety on his own submachine gun. "Fifteen of our guys are guarding the vault in the basement augmented with ten Kansas City police detectives."

"Good." The Chief took his eyes off the monitors for a moment to face 74. "What about the roof?"

"Five of our agents are there on the lookout." 74 replied. "When they spot something, they'll report in and then hightail back down to us. We got agents in place da seal off every exit once KAOS gets in."

"Well done." The Chief smiled uneasily as he hefted his Thompson. "Have all the guards and police officers been issued with the antidote?"

"Done Chief." 74 assured. "As per your instruction, everyone's been told, not to inoculate themselves until KAOS releases the gas."

"Good job Seventy-Four. I think we're just about ready for anything KAOS can try. I'm confident we'll be able to take down their entire robbery unit tonight!"

74 nodded solemnly.

"The President made the right move sending you Chief. With you calling the shots and the police backing us up, KAOS is going down for sure."

"Thank you Seventy-Four." He Chief smiled declaring. "No matter who leads, I know CONTROL will make the President proud tonight!"

74 shrugged his shoulders lifting the titanium alloy bib slightly.

"Long as it aint Eighty-Six. Every-TIME I go on a mission with him, something BAD happens to me!"

Even with the lights from the city below, the night sky remained impervious to it. Perfect for shrouding the 5 black hang gliders that arrowed silently over the cityscape. Strapped into the gliders' harnesses were figures, dressed in white anti-chemical suits, gloves and overshoe boots. Their cowls were for the moment pulled down around their necks as they had helmets strapped on over their heads and goggles over their eyes. Each of the men had the rectangular shaped gas tanks strapped to their backs which did not hinder the performance of the gliders at all.

In the lead glider, Gerd's piercing eyes behind his goggles narrowed on the building in the distance, lit by street lamps. As the night air washed unencumbered over them, Gerd's right gloved hand pulled a walkie-talkie from his utility belt and his thumb mashed the talk button.

"Nightbird Leader to Volfpack Leader. Nightbird Leader to Volfpack Leader. Come in Volfpack Leader."

The clear voice that crackled over the speaker of the walkie somehow sent a cold chill through Gerd despite his numerous years of training and operations in the snow covered mountains of Bavaria.

" _Volfpack Leader to Nightbird Leader. Bericht_."

"Nightbird Leader to Volfpack Leader." Gerd spoke, his eyes locked on the building in the distance. "Ve are in vizual range of zhe objectif. Ten minutes to contak."

" _Volfpack Leader to Nightbird Leader. Understood. Standing by_." SS-19 acknowledged over the walkie.

"Nightbird Leader out."

"I can't BELIEVE this Ninety-Nine!"

Inside the same conference room which they had perused the police files earlier today, 99 looked up from the long table which was now stacked with boxes filled with Němec's belongings. She saw Max standing across the table from her, bent over as he examined the various items, a look of absolute disbelief and consternation on his big eared face.

"What is it Max?" 99 asked eagerly as she shuffled some documents she had found. "Something that further confirms Němec's connection to the robberies?"

"I'll say!" Max pouted as he looked up and lifted up in his hands a pair of shiny black dress shoes. "I've wanted a pair of these for YEARS! They must cost more than HALF a month's salary! If that's not PROOF I don't know WHAT is!"

99 sighed, unable to stop the smile from spreading across her face as she returned to looking over the papers she was perusing.

"We'll need something more definitive than that, Max."

Max lifted his right leg up into a figure 4 position where he stood and placed one of the brand new shoes to his own, sole to sole.

"Maybe they'll fit me. You don't think they'll need these for the trial do you Ninety-Nine?"

"Probably not." 99 replied placing the documents back into a box and pushing it aside to switch over to another one. "I've found a few receipts from restaurants and cafes inside the Cramley dated weeks before the diamond fair heist. Němec was definitely there carrying out surveillance for the robbery.—" 99 searched through a wallet pulling out several small pieces of paper. "—Oh! Max! Here are a few ticket stubs from a parking garage. It's…it's less than two blocks from where one of the armored cars was robbed, the one Němec masqueraded as the newspaper stand owner."

"Makes sense." Max agreed as he searched through a box of other items recovered from Pernilla's room before pulling out a large piece of paper which he unfolded and studied. "This looks like a sketch of the Cramley's ballroom where the diamond fair was."

Max handed the sketch over to 99 who studied it while he kept looking through the box and soon announced again.

"Photographs."

"Of the robbery sites?" 99 asked as she folded the sketch and placed it on the growing pile of evidence they could use, at one end of the table. "Anything we could use in court?"

"Definitely." Max said as he shuffled through the photos, describing each one before placing them on the table. "Cramley's front entrance—Cramley's rear and side entrances—Cramley's ballroom—roads near the armored car heists—guards changing shift at the Cramley—Herb Shankmen opening his news stand—Herb Shankmen sitting in his newsstand— Pernilla Johansson posing in her hotel shower in a towel—Pernilla Johansson posing on her hotel bed in a see-through babydoll—"

99 frowned and looked up, pausing in her search through the pockets of a black trench coat while Max droned on and soon her frown shifted to a jaw dropping gasp of shock.

"—Pernilla Johansson posing in her hotel shower with-OUT a towel—Pernilla Johansson posing on her hotel bed with-OUT a see-through baby…" Max paused as his own jaw dropped and his eyes popped bigger as he shuffled now through the remaining pictures before quickly composing himself and stuffing the pictures into his jacket. "Eeeh…nothing! Absolutely nothing the courts would be interested in Ninety-Nine! What's that you got over there? A brochure for a restaurant frequented by KAOS agents…"

"Maaaaax!" 99 cried out reaching over and grabbing his wrist.

Max stumbled forward as 99 dragged his hand out of his jacket pocket still clutching the prized photos.

"Max! You CANT!" 99 declared snatching the photos finally out of his hands.

Max scowled at her throwing his hands up in the air.

"Ninety-Nine! I was gonna turn them in as information for our CONTROL files!" he declared.

"WHAT would we need these photos in our CONTROL files for Max?!" 99 demanded shaking the photos in her hand.

"Isn't it obvious?!" Max declared gesturing at the photos 99 was clutching. "Pernilla Johansson is CLEARLY a woman who makes QUESTIONABLE decisions in the men she DATES! Why, who KNOWS who she'll date in the future! She might start dating a ruthless KAOS assassin and need our protection!"

"How are photographs of Pernilla in a babydoll, towel or completely NAKED going to help us protect her?!" 99 exclaimed, her blue eyes wide.

Max shook his head, grimacing as thought he was explaining the fundamentals of spying to a new recruit.

"If she was ever being pursued by a KAOS assassin and running for her life in a crowd wearing nothing but a towel, see-through babydoll OR naked—WE would know exactly what she looked like and how to find her, wouldn't we?!"

99 sighed a tired breath as she rolled her eyes before tossing the photos on the table near her and declaring.

"We are re-TURNING these, Max!"

"Ooookay, fine!" Max shrugged as he sorted through the remaining photos. "Just don't come crying to me if sometime in the future, we're assigned to protect Pernilla while she's running naked through a crowded street in Prague and you can't find her cause you don't know what she looks like!"

99 tightened her soft lips together in anger, eyes burning at Max as she continued searching through the trench coat she found earlier. It only took a second before she spoke up again.

"Found lots of bills from some really fancy restaurants, nightclubs, brochures for museums, classical concerts—Němec certainly was living it up with his girl."

"I'll say." Max scoffed as he rummaged into the pocket of a sports jacket. "I got registrations for at least TWO other cars he owns. A Porsche AND an Aston Martin!—" Max dumped the jacket back into a box. "—sometimes I wonder whether it'd be more worthwhile switching sides!"

"Maaax!" 99 gasped with astonishment as she spread another trench coat from another box and began looking in the pockets. "KAOS represents evil!"

Max lifts up a letter which he found in another box reading it for a moment before looking back at 99 with arched eyebrows.

"He owns two penthouses in Switzerland and a palazzo in Venice. Evil is looking pretty good right now."

99 found herself smirking even as she glared at Max while her hands searched the trench coat's pockets. Her slender hands emerged with a number of small stiff rectangular pieces of paper. Thinking at first they were ticket stubs from some concert Němec had attended with Pernilla, 99 frowned when she looked closer at them.

"Max." she said turning the stubs in her hands as she examined them closely. "This is odd. Němec has a number of these in his trench coat."

Max busy with looking through the disguise kit used by the KAOS agent did not look up as he responded.

"If they're deeds to more luxury homes he owns in Europe, I'll take em."

"No Max." 99 declared with a gentle grimace and tilt of her head that sent the tips of her brown hair brushing the shoulder of her dark blue cropped jacket. "Look at these. They're tickets to a parking garage at H Street."

Max squinted at the stubs and shrugged.

"So?"

"He was there four days in a row, about a week before the armored car robberies. And look at the time on the stubs Max. He would arrive at around eight to 9 pm each time and leave around an hour after midnight."

"Same thing he did for the Cramley and the armored car robberies. So what?"

"But H street is nowhere near ANY of the armored car robbery locations OR the Cramley." 99 pointed out. "And there aren't any banks in the area large enough to warrant a target."

"Maybe it was just a cheap place da park."

"At five dollars an hour?" 99 shook her head. "I doubt it Max. And there aren't any designer shops or high end restaurants near this garage so he wasn't there cause he was out with Pernilla."

"It hardly matters Ninety-Nine. I mean, we KNOW where KAOS is going to hit next and the Chief will have them all in cuffs soon enough!"

"Don't you think we should at least check it out Max?" 99 smiled tilting her head at Max.

Max sighed shutting the disguise kit he was examining.

"Why not? Going through the belongings of the rich, rotten and happy is depressing me."

99 gave a lopsided smile at him as she picked up her quilted surfaced handbag.

"And I'm handing these over to the messenger unit to have them sent back to Pernilla on our way out." She declared gesturing with the photos in her hand as she walked towards the door.

"Oookay Ninety-Nine." Max shrugged closing up some boxes he had.

As 99 walked out the door, Max reached into his jacket to pull out 3 more photographs he managed to stow away. Looking at them, 86 smiled with arched eyebrows and a dreamy look in his eyes for a few moments before sighing and walking out with a bounce in his steps, pushing the photos back into his jacket again.

The wind swept through Gerd's light blond ivy league haircut, tossing it relentlessly but the KAOS agent paid no heed as his eyes focused unwaveringly at their target in the distance. He lifted the walkie talkie and spoke into it again.

"Nightbird leader to Nightbirds Vun, Two, Three und four! Prepare to bank."

4 voices in turn, each different in tone came over the walkie talkie in Gerd's gloved hand.

"Inteso!"

"Jawohl!"

"Oui monsieur!"

"Da ser!"

Gerd spoke again into the walkie-talkie.

"Nightbird Leader to Wolfpack Leader, come in. Over."

"Wolfpack Leader here. Over."

"Nightbird Leader to Wolfpack Leader. Ve are making final approach now. Vill veport upon successful lunding."

"Understoot."

"Nightbird Leader out."

Gerd pushed his walkie-talkie back into his pouch before grasping the control bar of the triangle frame and pulling on it. As his glider put on a burst of speed, the wind thundering in his ears, the other gliders kept pace with him. Gerd shifted his body in the harness making his glider sweep gracefully to the left and the other 4 gliders followed him, smoothly like a flight of swallows sweeping in formation.

On the roof of 925 Grand, two CONTROL agents stood at the southwestern side's parapet, weapons slung across their backs. One of them with a narrow face, high forehead and distinctive smile lines on his and short neat hair, held a modified AN/PVS-2 Starlight scope to his eye scanning the night with it.

"Fifty-Four, would you gimme a turn on that thing?!" the other agent with an equally high forehead and neatly combed grayish black hair whined at his colleague. "You've been hogging it for the last hour!"

"Quit your bellyaching, Thirty-Eight!" 54 exclaimed as he turned slowly to the right, sighting through the large bulky scope. "There's nothing da SEE!"

"I was lucky enough da be in town when the Chief called the Magenta alert, otherwise I'd be OFF on some glorified errand again!" 38 huffed tossing his hands up. "So while I'd like da try that out while I'm here! We couriers NEVER get a chance da use the best toys!"

"Oh alright! Here! Here!" 54 grunted handing over the large scope. "It's like being on guard duty with a toddler!"

38 was grinning ear to ear, not caring the least at 54's insult, grabbing the device and putting it to his eye.

"Oh wow!" 38 gushed as he sighted through the device, one eyes squeezed shut. "It's like it's DAY time! If day time was all green that is."

"Fantastic aint it!" 54 nodded in agreement as 38 slowly swept the scope from the sky downwards. "We're in luck, there being almost a full moon out and we're on the roof. The lab enhanced a bunch of these for us. The ones the military have only amplifies moon light by a thousand. Our babies here almost doubles that. Just make sure you don't…"

"YOW ZAH!" 38 exclaimed staggering back from the railing, yanking the scope away from his face and clutching the eye which was looking through it.

"…look directly at any lights." 54 sighed shaking his head in dismay as he finished his sentence.

As 38 blinks rapidly trying to regain his vision, 54 takes back the night scope and continues looking through it.

"I don't think I'll ever look at street lamps the same way again." 38 swore winking his affected eye.

"This is it Ninety-Nine." Max gestured with a hand from where they stood at a street corner. "The building closest to the parking garage Němec was at. It's the only office building out here."

Standing next to Max, her hip angled out and relaxed as her light brown cotton gloved hands clutched at the chain of her quilted handbag, 99 looked about them. It was close to 930 pm at night and the streets were fairly quiet with only occasional vehicles cruising by and even lesser pedestrians. The office building in question stood at a corner of a road, about 20 stories in height, it's color not clearly discernible in the dark.

"I don't see why he would be interested in anything else out here Max." she stated. "There's nothing except restaurants and shops. Let's go talk to the guards. Maybe we'll turn up something."

"That looks like the lobby there." Max shrugged indicating a light on the ground floor

Gerd kept the control bar of his glider pulled back, slicing through the dark skies. The other 4 gliders kept in formation to his right and left expertly, the wind flapping their baggy hazmat suits. Their target grew larger in their field of vision.

On the roof of 925 Grand, 54's body suddenly tenses as he leans forward, his armored bib pressing against the chest high parapet of the roof.

"Thirty-Eight! You're not gonna believe this!"

"What?! What?!" 38 asked running up to the railing again pushing the earpiece of is Wrist Communicator T-37 into his ear and speaking into it. "Thirty-Eight to Seventy-Four! Thirty-Eight to Seventy-Four! Come in Seventy-Four!"

74's voice crackled over his ear piece.

"Seventy-Four here! Thirty-Eight. You and Fifty-Four spotted something?"

"Affirmative Seventy-Four!" 38 answered looking out into the night sky. "Fifty-Four spotted something through the nightscope! Fifty-Four, what do you see?!"

54 put his own earpiece from his wrist communicator into his ear before he adjusted a magnification dial on the bulky scope as he answered.

"One second, Seventy-Four, I'm focusing."

"He's focusing." 38 spoke into the wrist communicator eagerly as he continued to strain his eyes into the black sky.

99 drew in a surprised breath as she and Max emerged from the revolving door into the lobby of the office building at H Street.

"Oh my!" 99 breathed out, gloved fingers pulling gently at the folded turtle neck of her knitted top.

"Whoa!" Max joined in looking about. "They must have the HEAT set for an early winter!"

There were two security guards seated at the reception counter in the lobby and from the sweat stains on the chest and armpits of their light gray uniforms, they were both in agreement with Max.

One of them, likely in his late forties with a growing gut that appeared on the verge of victory over the structural integrity of his utility belt's buckle was sagging in a swivel chair, head slouched back on the top of the chair's back. His mouth was opened, eyes shut, beads of sweat ran down his chubby neck and soaked into his uniform while both his thick arms were hanging over the arm rests of the chair.

The other guard, roughly the same age, but leaner wasn't having much better luck either as the uniform over his chest was also soaked with sweat, though he was the only one to look up as they approached. His sweating brow immediately arched though and his eyes lit up with surprise upon sight of 99 and his lip muscles fought heat exhaustion and fatigue to manage a tired smile.

"Evening." He greeted with a nod. "You need directions?"

"Uh no." Max said reaching into his dim gray sports jacket. "We're…we're…uh.."

86 frowned cutting himself off as he searched the inside pockets of his jacket before patting the external ones.

"We're…we're…uh…other than getting increasingly sweaty…" Max kept trying reaching into his trouser pocket now. "…uh…I can't seem da find my I.D. Would you?"

99 nodded reaching into her silvery gray handbag and instantly came out with her billfold which she opened to the guard.

"Good evening—" 99 took a second to look at the guard's name tag. "—Lyle. We're government agents and we require your assistance."

As Lyle squinted at this revelation, Max kept fumbling in his pockets as he spoke.

"Yes. I was wondering if you guys could tell us if anything strange has happened."

"As a matter of fact it just did." Lyle smirked with a tilt of his sweating head.

"What was that?" 99 asked returning her identification to her handbag.

"You two came in, said you were government agents and asked for our assistance."

While Max scowled at the perspiring guard, 99 smiled in return.

"I take it nothing much happens here on the night shift?" she asked.

"Not in over five years on the job." Lyle shrugged and jerked his head in the direction of his suffering partner next to him. "Cal's been here twice that long and the biggest excitement he's seen was the day management started giving us free doughnuts for the night."

"You boys sure nothing has happened in the last two weeks?" Max inquired as beads of sweat began to form on his forehead as well.

"Sorry." Lyle said lifting his palms up. "Wish I could help ya."

"What sort of companies does the building house?" 99 asked.

Lyle turned his head and gestured towards a massive directory on the wall.

"Accounting firms, lawyers, architects, civil engineers." Lyle trailed off. "Just your everyday tenants in your everyday commercial building."

"Did any of them report any kind of break-ins or strange occurrences in the past weeks?" Max asked.

"None that we know of." Lyle replied.

Gerd pushed at the control bar and the drag of the wind against him decreased and he could hear the change in their flow around the other gliders on either side of him as they matched his speed.

"I almost got it!" 54 declared turning another knob on the nightscope.

"He's almost got it!" 38 exclaimed into his T-37, eyes wild with excitement.

"Yes, I can hear him TOO Thirty-Eight!" 74 exclaimed over their earpieces.

"Does any of the firms in this building do work for the Federal Reserve Banks?" 99 inquired.

Lyle looked at his desk top for a moment, frowning as he thought for a few moments before nodding.

"I think they do. One of the big lawyers mentioned he was in a meeting with some members of the Federal Reserve Board. Heck if I know what it was about. But the firms in this building handle the legal affairs for almost everyone from big oil and tobacco companies, to theatres, museums, supermarkets—you name it."

Max grimaced and shrugged turning to 99.

"Well, we tried."

99 nodded in agreement and smiled appreciatively at the security guard.

"Thank you for your time. I hope the management gets the air-conditioning fixed for you soon."

"Ooooh if only it was that simple!" Lyle rolled his eyes leaning back in his swivel chair and waving a tired hand in the air. "You can thank the Death Valley conditions here da corporate ego!"

"Really?" 99 mused

"Come on, Ninety-Nine let's go." Max said.

"All this over a stupid argument over warranty!" Lyle scoffed, rolling his eyes as 99 laughed softly turning to go. "Because of one loose vent cover, me and Cal are dancing with heat stroke!"

99 stopped in her tracks and reached out a gloved hand to catch Max's arm.

The upward drafts now buffeted them mercilessly as Gerd and his fellow KAOS agents began descending. The rooftop grew larger as they approached and their eyes zeroed in on the area where they would land.

"Yes! Yes!" 54 yelled, leaning forward even further as he stared through the scope.

"What is it?" Seventy-Four's voice exclaimed over 38's earpiece.

54 gasped, the eye piece of the AN/PVS-2 pressed tightly to his eye as he exclaimed.

"Oh-my-GOD! Paint me blue and call me Starry Night over the Rhone!"

"You see Vincent Van Goh?!" 74 exclaimed

"No!" 54 yelled out, holding the scope to his eye and gesturing with his free hand into the night. "The guy in the corner apartment five streets over has a bathroom that's TWICE the size of my apartment!"

38 squeezed his eyes shut as though the blinding amplified light were assailing his vision again as he bent forward planting his forehead down onto the railing and 74 groaned in dismay over their ear pieces.

Five pairs of anti-chemical overshoe boots slammed down onto the rooftop and they ran for a few steps before coming to a stop and lowering their gliders down and began unstrapping themselves. Gerd was the first one free and raises his walkie-talkie as he crouched waiting for his men to free themselves from their glider harnesses.

"Nightbird Leader to Wolfpack Leader. Ve have touch down on zher target."

"Wolfpack Leader to Nightbird Leader. Proceed vith Phase two."

"Ninety-Nine, I feel like it's raining inside my suit!" Max groaned as 99 turned back to the security guards. "Let's just go!"

"Lyle." 99 asked, gloved hands on the counter top, leaning over it, ignoring the sweat that was forming on her forehead as well. "What happened to the air-conditioning again?"

Lyle blew out a breath as he tosses up his hands in dismay.

"Some kinef stupid argument over breach of contract or warranty or …something!" nevertheless, Lyle explained best he could, likely encouraged by 99's flashing blue eyes that felt as close to anything cool and comforting he would be getting anytime soon. "Bout a week back, the air-conditioning guys came by for regular maintenance. They apparently found a seal broken on one of the vent covers in one of the offices and even foot prints inside the shafts. Next thing you know, their boss is calling the management's office, accusing them of violating the warranty by hiring someone else for the job! The building's owners denied it of course. The A.C company refuses to service the air-conditioning unless the building management pays for it now, since they deem the warranty void, the owner's refused and they're STILL yelling at each other over the phones, leaving me an Cal in this sweat lodge minus the fun hallucinations!"

"How could the A.C company be sure it wasn't their own men who broke the seal or left those footprints?" 99 queried.

"I'm just gonna go pass out outside ok?" Max turned to leave only to have 99 grab his arm again.

Lyle shrugged.

"They said they check and seal every outlet vent cover following every maintenance. Plus..." Lyle frowned titling his head as perspiration ran down his cheeks before looking up at 99 again. "…they said the boot prints inside the vents were too small for any of their guys! Talk about ego!"

"Which office was this?" 99 asked urgently.

"Why?" Lyle squinted.

"Buddy," Max said leaning over the counter as well, sweat pouring as fast down his face as it was on both the security guards, his eyes drooping. "I BEG you, just TELL her what she wants da know, then call me an ambulance!"

"It's…it's…um…" Lyle struggled to remember, jerking his thumb back over his shoulder to try to jog his memory. "…uuuuh…CAL! Hey! Cal! You still alive?!"

"If I said no would you leave me out ev this?!" groaned the unmoving Cal.

"Cal, which office had that loose vent cover?"

"Guy can't die of heat exhaustion in peace around here!" Cal growled finally sitting up, mopping his steaming face with a handkerchief which had reached it's moisture absorption limit a few liters ago.

"Cal please!" 99 urged. "This is important! LIVES could be at stake here!"

"Most immediately—MINE!" Max snapped plopping his head down onto his forearms on the counter top.

"It's the office on the fifteenth floor." Cal answered finally, his eyes blurry.

"That's right!" Lyle declared, pointing at 99 as he remembered. "It belonged to uuuh...oh! Lloyd, Summers and Nordel!"

"And that's the ONLY office which they found a broken seal for the vent covers?" 99 asked.

"Oooh yeah!" Cal nodded leaning his jowls on his handkerchief swathed hand. "Believe me they looked reeeeal thorough before sticking it to the owners."

Gerd and his team ran across the roof dodging among protruding structures and access points. They ran along the wall of a large structure and turned the corner. Finally they stopped as they saw the massive industrial machinery before them with it's tangle of thick ducts that connected to the wall of the structure it was next to as well as going into the floor of the roof.

With a gloved hand signal from Gerd, the other four men dashed towards the machine, unslinging the rectangular gas tanks from their back. They moved quickly and precisely, crouching next to 4 different ducts. As Gerd looked at his watch and watched the work, each man deployed a laser cutter and the devices whined as their intense red beams began cutting into the large ducts. The light from the beams cast their shadows on the machine and the roof floor as Gerd kept watch.

Within seconds, each man cut a small hole into each of the 4 ducts. Rapidly, they each pulled a hose attached to their gas tanks, the leading end fitted with the nozzle the Marquise had given them. The men pushed the nozzle through the hole they had excised in the ducts. A special rubber base fitted perfectly held the nozzle in place inside the duct while sealing off the newly cut hole.

The men turned to Gerd who nodded. All 4 men turned the release valves on their twin canisters next to them and the sharp hissing of air could be heard as the canisters released their contents. Inside the ducts, the nozzles spewed out a continuous cone of light green _Super Sleep_ gas which flooded and travelled through the ducts swiftly.

Inside the building, two uniformed security guards were patrolling a brightly lit, red carpeted corridor.

"What's that sound?" one of them asked stopping.

The other guard stopped as well looking around them.

"Don't tell me we have a GAS leak!" the other one whined. "So much for a quiet…"

"What the...!" the other guard exclaimed pointing up.

Both of them stared up at the air vents along the ceiling as thick, light green gas poured out from it. They both turned and ran, one of them yelling into his walkie-talkie.

"This is Patrol Four to C and C! Patrol Four to C and C!" The guard yelled into the communications device as the green gas enveloped them. "We have a green gas! There's green…"

He never finished as both of them collapsed to the red carpet, snoring away as the Super Sleep filled the corridor and the adjoining rooms that led off from it.

"… _C and C to Patrol 4. Come in, please_." The voice filtered from the fallen walkie-talkie next to the sleeping guard's hand. " _Patrol 4 come in please. Norm! What the heck were you talking about!?"_

Inside the security command and control room, a guard barked into the microphone of the radio he used.

"Norm! Pete! What are you two talking about?! What green gas are you two talking about?!"

"Look!" one of his colleagues yelled out.

The guard on the microphone looked up to see the other 5 guards in the room with him staring at the closed-circuit t.v monitors which monitored practically every location in the building. But the all showed the same image now. Clouds of a light green gas filling rooms, corridors, lobbies etc..

"Call the cops! Call the cops now!" the microphone guard yelled just as a hissing sound permeated the security command and control room and green clouds spewed out from the air vents in the ceiling around them, cutting them from sight within seconds as they scrambled for the phones.

Before he could even push the button on the dial pad of the phone, one of the guards slumped forward on the control panel and slid off to the floor rattling the switches. This was followed by his fellow guards collapsing equally unceremoniously to the floor in the roiling green miasma that filled the entire security command and control room.

The Chief looked at the various closed circuit tv monitors in the security command and control room, offering images of the roads outside the Federal Reserve Bank and within. He realized his brow was fixed in a constant frown as he looked at the clock for what must be the 10th time in the last 5 minutes. It was past 11 pm already.

74 came strolling up to him, Thompson submachine gun cradled in his arms.

"Anything to report Seventy-Four?" the Chief turned immediately from the monitors.

"Yeah. Fifty-Four confirmed through the night scope—the guy living in the corner apartment on the seventeenth floor, three blocks away spends more money on his bathroom tiles than FIVE of us do on our mortgage." Was 74's report.

"What?!" the Chief exclaimed.

"Also—" 74 added with a raised finger. "—please NEVER let Fifty-Four use the night scope again."

The Chief stared, slack jawed at 74 wondering how a migraine was forming inside his skull despite Max's absence. He was saved momentarily by a phone ringing somewhere and he turned to see a security guard stationed at one of the consoles pick up a phone built into it. Following his greeting, he listened for a moment before turning in their direction.

"Sir. Someone calling herself Ninety-Nine is asking for you."

The Chief sighed with relief, nodding quickly as he walked over and took the receiver.

"Hello? Ninety-Nine? Is everything okay? What?...Wait slow down I can barely hear you…"

Max's red 1965 Sunbeam Tiger arrowed through the night streets, it's engine purring away despite the high speed it was travelling at. The roadster angled past a delivery truck before making a smooth right turn. Max in the driver's seat, perspiration still gleaming streaks down his tired face and his narrow crimson tie loosened around his neck was clutching the steering wheel with whatever strength he could muster while 99 in the passenger seat, dark brown hair whipping about was speaking into her yellow compact phone.

"Chief!" 99 yelled into her phone over the noise of the engine and the wind. "Any sign of KAOS yet?!"

"No! No!" the Chief repeated pressing a finger to his other ear to block out all other back ground noises on his side. "Ninety-Nine! What is happening?! Where are you?!"

As Max jerked the wheel to the right bringing the Sunbeam screeching past another car in their way, 99 reported into her yellow compact.

"Chief!" 99 yelled into the device. "I'm in the car with Max! We've found evidence that KAOS is going to rob the National Museum instead! They're having an exhibit of the Palermo Shearwater! We found information indicating Němec has carried out reconnaissance on it. There are also signs that KAOS visited AND infiltrated the offices of Lloyd, Summers and Nordel, likely to get the blueprints for the museum!"

The Chief listened intently, his eyes widening, his jaw dropping even as the facts began rearranging in his mind and he turned looking at the CCTV screens in the C&C room of the Federal Reserve Bank, all of them still not showing any sign of an infiltration.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

The churning gas turned the entire C&C room of the National Museum green. The guards in the room were sprawled out on the floor, or slumped over the consoles, snoring away in the awkward positions which they had collapsed or fallen. Every CCTV monitor screen now reflected a green world within the corridors of the museum and also, bulky bug-eyed wraiths with long noses running about, snatching exhibits off the walls and display stands.

At the heavy locked steel door of the C&C room, a point of intense light was moving along it's surface starting a few inches above where the lock was parallel to the door jamb. The point drew downwards, forming a line of intense pure heat drew with sparks spraying out from it, growing in intensity as it sliced through the heavy bolts of the lock. The spray of the sparks reduced as the line of heat extended past the bolts before stopping altogether.

The heavy door then shook slightly with an impact from the other side and a second round send it swinging open with 2 white anti-chemical suited, GP-5 gas masked KAOS agents stumbling in, shoulders sliding past the steel door, one of them holding a laser cutter.

Before they even regained their balance, a similarly garbed Gerd, stride past them, through the green mist directly to the sleeping guards. He searched the belts of the guards swiftly and quickly yanked a large tubular security key from two of them who were slumped over their consoles. Stepping over to one of the guards snoring away in chemically induced slumber on the floor, Gerd pushed him with an overshoe boot onto his back to reveal another similar key on his utility belt. Stooping over, the KAOS agent snatched it off the key loop and straightening tossing it over to one of the men by the door.

"Get zhat to S-S-Nineteen! Zer vest ov you! Plant zer explosives! Schnell!"

"Ninety-Nine!" the Chief spoke into the phone, his thoughts refocused. "You might be right! Regardless, we'll never make it back on time! And you know the trouble CONTROL is in with the president at the moment. I can't risk calling the police in until you're SURE KAOS is at the museum! Can you check it out first! If KAOS is there, I'll have the police send you reinforcements!"

"Right Chief! We'll call you again once we have visual confirmation!" 99 nodded before retracting the antenna and closing the compact phone. "Oh, hurry Max! We don't have a second to loose! The Chief needs us to confirm that KAOS is at the museum before he can call for help!"

At the wheel, Max shook his head as he wiped a dim gray sleeve over his gleaming forehead.

"Ninety-Nine!" he gasped, eyes rolling as he turned the steering wheel slightly to pass a slow cab. "As appreciative as I am to be OUT of Death Valley—I… _gasp_ …I'm going to need a little while da…re-acclimate. Nothing much! Just a few seconds da…pull over, catch my breath and…black out over the dashboard."

"Oh Max, we don't have time!" 99 shook her head and her hands desperately. "I couldn't shake this feeling that something was wrong! HOW is it KAOS so con-VENIENTLY left that partially burnt blue print for us to find?! WHY didn't they ensure it was destroyed completely?"

"Don't tell me all that information we found bout the Federal Reserve Bank was just a diversion?!" Max exclaimed shifting gears to bring about a burst of power from the Sunbeam's engines.

"It's a diversion Max!"

Max rolled his eyes up, tilting his head back as he grumbled.

"I ASKED you not to TELL me that!"

"That's why Němec was at the parking garage near the building at H Street. KAOS was after something from that building!" 99 explained. "That's why the air-conditioning repairmen found those footprints inside the air ducts which didn't belong to their technicians! KAOS used the air ducts to infiltrate the building and get inside the offices!"

"You mean those tiny boot prints they were talking about?" Max asked incredulously turning his head slightly to cast a glance at 99 and her whipping, flying hair which for reasons he could not explain at the moment, drove the thumping in his chest up several beats per minute.

They came upon a red light and Max eased on the brakes and turned to 99 when they stopped. "But I've SEEN Němec's shoes! They were size thirteens! Which unfortunately is TOO big for me!"

"You're right Max!" 99 nodded her shoulder pulling at the seat belt as she twisted to face him, her brown gloved fingers pulling the whipping hair from her face.

86 nodded his head looking her up and down pouting as he responded.

"You don't have to be insulting Ninety-Nine! Nobody's perfect! And it's not ALL about the size…"

"No Max!" 99 interrupted, shaking her head, sending her dark hair flying about again. "I mean—Němec WAS there but he must have been driving another KAOS agent. Based on the small boot prints they found, it was likely Kerstin or the woman in the black veil!"

"And who is—what did Lyle and Cal say?" Max pondered tilting his big eared head. "Lloyd, Winters and…uuuhh…"

"Lloyd, Summers and Nordel!" 99 said as a ringing announced the change of the stop light to green and Max stepped on the clutch again.

As the Sunbeam cruised on through the dark streets, Max inquired.

"Who are they again?"

"An architectural and civil engineering firm." 99 explained as wind whipped her face and hair again, casting some of them across her nose and lips as she spoke since she was turned towards him. "They handle contracts for most of the historical buildings in D.C! More precisely, they were one of the architects contracted for a major re-modelling of the National Museum here in D.C last year, including the ventilation and security systems! They MUST have had blue prints of the National Museum in their office!"

"So you're saying KAOS broke in, made copies of the blueprints and got out without ANYONE knowing it?"

"That's right!"

"And you think they're actually robbing the museum?!" Max exclaimed still unconvinced as he turned the steering wheel to the left to bring them down another road. "For this…this…Palermo Sh...she…shishkabab?"

"The Palermo Shearwater!" 99 affirmed "I found brochures and tickets for the National museum among Němec's belongings. At first I thought he was just bringing Pernilla out on the town but now it's clear he was carrying out surveillance on the museum as well! And the brochures he had, focused on a travelling exhibit on loan from the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence—the Palermo Shearwater!"

"What is that?" Max exclaimed swerving to avoid a road hogging gray Ford.

99's slender light brown cotton gloved fingers on both hands were inches apart as she struggled to explain as though she was holding the artefact itself.

"It's…it's a statuette about a foot long of a great shearwater, a species, found in most parts of the world including Italy."

"Why is it always a bejewelled bird?" Max shook his head shifting into another gear again and putting on a burst of speed which pressed them into their seats.

99 gave a lopsided smile before continuing.

"No one really knows till today who crafted it. It was first discovered in a sacked mansion of a Bourbon general in Palermo in 1860 after Giuseppe Garibaldi reclaimed the city. But historians today believe it predates that. The French have tried relentlessly to lay claim to it but the Italians of course claim the Bourbons stole it from them. A popular speculation by Italian historians is that Roger II commissioned it in 1131 during his first year as King of Sicily as a wedding anniversary gift for his first wife Elvira. This sort of explains the name of the statuette since Palermo was the Kingdom's capital at the time. When Elvira died in 1135, Roger was supposedly so bereaved he had the statuette entombed with her and didn't remarry for fifteen years! And then when the Bourbons took over they stole it from Elvira's tomb. But there hasn't been empirical evidence of any of these claims from either side."

"I never knew KAOS was such a history buff!" Max pointed out.

"That's right." 99 nodded pulling strands of hair from her lips, blown there by the wind. "The Palermo Shearwater is crafted from solid gold, inlaid with ivory over it's neck, throat, chest and belly to reflect it's natural plumage. It's wings are studded with rubies and diamonds, mimicking the patterns on it's feathers, with emeralds for it's eyes. The Uffizi, Louvre and the Met in New York appraised it to be worth nearly Fifty MILLION dollars!"

Max's eyes popped as he steered them past a pick-up truck.

"And a LOT more portable than all the cash in the Federal Reserve!" he added.

Every corridor and exhibit room of the National museum roiled with the green gas which enveloped every painting, statue, sculpture and art work. Encased in their white full bodied, cowl anti-chemical suits and bug-eyed GP-5 gas masks, the KAOS agents dashed through the green hue, jumping over the unconscious forms of the museum guards where they laid on the floor or in some cases, sitting on the floor and slumped back against the walls, snoring away.

The breathing of the KAOS agents echoed through the heavy circular filter of their gas masks as their gloved hands grabbed paintings off the walls and sculptures off their stands and displays. In the Italian section, about 6 KAOS agents ran about in a similar way to their compatriots elsewhere in the museum, grabbing the artworks. One of the agents grabbed the painting of _Il bacio_ from the wall, while another agent dashed through the green mist up to a display block and grabbed the fluidic form of the _Forme uniche della continuità nello spazio_ in bronze.

SS-19's eyes took in everything that was happening around her despite the narrow field of vision afforded to her through the dark circular eye pieces of her own customized GP-5 gas mask. Her white anti-chemical suit, slightly less baggy and more compact then those her men wore, enabled her to move as silent as the greenish mist around her towards her objective. In the centre of the large exhibit section was their primary target.

The Palermo Shearwater, crafted in the form of the bird paddling on water, was perched on a chest high display block covered by a shatterproof glass casing. Even through the green mist, SS-19 could see the unparalleled craftsman ship. At first glance, it indeed looked like the bird itself. Only with greater concentration would one make out the ivory which gave the statuette the colour of white over its throat and belly. The dark coloured diamonds and rubies that covered it's folded wings glittered through the green miasma. But most of all, SS-19 noted the emerald eyes of the statuette that challenged the gas' colour and shone forth it's victory.

SS-19 stopped about 8 feet from the display from the display for that was as far as she could go for at the moment a square titanium cage sat in place over it for the night. The vertical and horizontal bars made it look, suitably, like a giant bird cage. Taking just a second more to appreciate the beauty of the statuette that seemed to beckon to them, SS-19's gloved hand raised a walkie-talkie to her GP-5's cylinder filter and pressed the button on it. Her frost rimmed voice, sliced through the gas mask's filter with little distortion.

"Gerd. Heben Sie den Käfig an."

In the gas filled security C&C, Gerd stood at the primary console with the pair of tubular keys he took from the comatose guards.

"Jawohl." Gerd acknowledged as he inserted the keys into 2 keyways on the consoles up to their shoulders, before rapidly flipping a few switches and pressing pushing 5 buttons which popped back up. He then took hold of the square bow of the keys and turned them both at the same time in opposite directions.

As 2 other KAOS agents ran past SS-19's back one of them carrying _The Calling of Saint Matthew_ while the other held in one hand the _La Tempesta_ and in the other the _Annunciation,_ a low humming sounded through the Italian section.

SS-19 while noting their movements focused on the security cage before her which now was rising off the carpet, pulled by the steel cables attached to it that connected to hidden powered winches in the ceiling. The moment, the bottom of the cage was at the level of her gas mask, SS-19 ducked her cowl shrouded head and walked towards the display. Reaching it, her right gloved hand raised, holding the tubular security key which her men had delivered to her. This she inserted into a keyway at the side of the display block which the Palermo Shearwater was displayed. A loud click sounded as the lock holding the glass casing in place opened. SS-19 raised her gloved hands and pressed her palms into the sides of the glass casing and despite it's weight and lack of proper handholds, lifted it up slowly and smoothly.

Max focused the lenses of his bino-specs and the image of the western façade of the National Museum came into focus, essentially the 'front' of the building. Even at this distance, the front row of 8 white marble columns were clearly visible along with the second corresponding row behind it, all supporting the majestic triangular pediment on it's entablatures. Max could even make out the relief sculptures that decorated the pediment's tympandium.

Behind the double row of marble columns was the massive singular double doors of bronze at least 15 feet high. Max scanned downwards from the columns and porch over the wide equally impressive front staircase with a single landing dividing equally it's total of over 40 steps that led down to a plaza which was about three quarters of the width of the entire museum. The entire plaza like the façade of the building was well lit, illuminating the blue circular pool at each of it's curved end. The plaza's eastern side had another short flight of steps leading down to a wide pavement after which finally came the road itself.

Shaking his head, Max removed the bino-specs and leaned back in the driver's seat.

"Anything Max?" 99 asked from the passenger seat.

"Nothing Ninety-Nine." Max reported looking about where they were parked several blocks from the National Museum but with clear line of sight to the building. "There's no sign of any activity. But we can't tell much from out here. Let's just call the C&C and ask em if everything is okay."

99's delicate brows frowned as she thought for a few seconds before shaking her head with concern.

"If KAOS is inside, the C&C is the first place they'd commandeer to control security and communications. Just like they did at the Cramley. Whoever answered the phone might be a KAOS agent and we'll be tipping them off."

Max squinted and grimaced before gesturing with the bino-specs as he spoke.

"How about we call up the C&C and if a KAOS agent answers, we tell him he won fifty million dollars in a lottery and he can only collect if the rest of his gang goes to prison for life?"

99 gave a lopsided smile as she rolled her eyes sideways at 86 sighing.

"Maaax."

She pointed a gloved finger.

"Max, the back of the museum. Why don't we check out the back entrance and see what we can find?"

"Good idea Ninety-Nine." Max nodded as he started up the Sunbeam Tiger.

The window lined white marble of the National Museum flashed by as Max drove the roadster down the road parallel to the northern side of the building. Few cars moved in the area at this time and soon, 86 made a right turn and they cruised down the past the eastern façade of the building, essentially the rear of the museum. The façade here matched the front with a triangular pediment supported by 8 pillars. But it was less lavish, with only 1 row of pillars. Instead of a singular large door, there were 5 smaller doors each with a corresponding second floor window above it. There was the same wide stairs leading up to the columns and doors but no plaza was present. Instead, the stairs led down to a simple sidewalk after which was the road proper.

There was no discernible activity at the eastern facade either so Max drove on for a few minutes. Finally he pulled over to stop at the curb of a quiet street where they could see a number of buildings built up close to the south side of the museum forming a number of back alleys.

"There Ninety-Nine." Max said pointing towards an alley. "That alley leads right to a back door to the museums basement storage."

"Are you sure Max?" 99 queried looking about. "There seems to be a LOT of alleyways here."

"Ninety-Nine!" Max grimaced shaking his head as though he was talking to a child. "I have the fully trained, instant-recall memory of a secret agent! I know the museum's layout like the back of my hand!"

99's blue eyes widened, flashing in the night.

"That's VERY impressive Max!" she smiled. "You studied the blueprints of the museum for such an eventuality?"

"No, I come to the museum to relax whenever I get confused. So rest assured Ninety-Nine, I know every INCH of this building, because I come down here—" Max punctuated his sentence by pointing a finger up. "—a LOT!"

Immediately, however, Max frowned contemplating what he just said while 99 also squinted at him for a second.

A few seconds later, Max was leading them down the narrow alley. They kept close to the back wall of the museum on their right. The building to their left was some form of old warehouse with a solid brick structure and the closest windows were at least 3 storeys above them, all of which were unlit.

About half way down the long alley, Max paused pressing his back against the wall of the museum instinctively stretching his left arm backwards to get 99 to do the same. As she flattened herself against the museum wall, 99's breath caught in her throat in the dark as she felt the pressure of Max's forearm across her midriff and his body heat washed somehow unimpeded through his shirt, both their jackets and her knitted top to caress her skin, causing her abdominal muscles to tighten.

99 found herself staring at the back of Max's head in the dark, hoping he did not notice the response of her body or her slightly shuddering breath as she realised the grip of her hand on the chain of her handbag must be knuckle white under the brown cotton gloves.

Max's whisper almost made her jump and 99 was ever so proud that she managed to stop the wall of her abdominal muscles from convulsing.

"There's the door I was talking about Ninety-Nine."

99 leaned forward slightly to look past Max's. She could just make out the door in the darkness about 20 feet further along the back wall of the museum. While it was closed, the bar of light across the door's bottom edge pierced the darkness of the alley.

"Max! The light is on. You said it was just a basement storeroom? Do the staff usually work this late?"

"It depends." Max answered.

"On what?"

"Whether the guards' are having poker night."

While 99 tilted her head with a lopsided smile at the back of his head, Max decided.

"We'll have da take a look."

"Right Max."

They began edging closer to the bar of light close to the floor in the distance, careful not to make any noise. But a soft, hollow crumpling yanked a startled soft gasp from 99 as she felt the bottom of her low healed boot crush what must have been an empty box or carton. Both froze and Max whirled on her, pressing a finger to his lips.

"Sssssshhhhhh!"

99 slowly lowered her gloved fingers from her lips which she had done to stifle her gasp and whispered her apology.

"Sorry Max!"

Max shook his head with a disapproving grimace, before turning back around, sighting the door again less than 20 feet away, took his next step and kicked the garbage can right in front of him. The entire alley echoed with the clanging of the falling garbage can and Max falling face forward right onto of it. The garbage can's lid rolled away down the alley like a runaway hub cap of a car's wheel to clang against the wall of the warehouse on their left about 10 ft away. 99 tried desperately to grab hold of Max as he struggled on top of the toppled garbage can only to roll right off it and land with a loud frump on the alley floor, sending the can rolling across the alley to slam into the opposite wall. The clanging cacophony was joined by the high pitch snarling and screeching of 2 or 3 hidden felines that ran about.

99 managed to turn Max over onto his hands and feet and they both scrambled forward a few steps and dropped down behind a dumpster as the cats continued snarling and hissing around them. As they crouched there in the dark, their blood turned cold as they heard the back door opened and the alley ahead was partially flooded with the light from the storeroom.

"Vhat vas zat?!" they heard a man's voice demanding though it sounded somewhat muffled and distant.

Max and 99, pressed together, shoulder to shoulder where they crouched against the dumpster stared at each other in apprehension.

"Somevun knocked over zer garbage! Ve huv un intruder!"

Max's eyes widened as he immediately reached into his jacket for his shoulder holster while 99 thrusted her gloved hand into her handbag. They could hear boots clumping over the alley coming closer to them and the long shadow of an approaching figure against the light on the wall.

"Yeeeeeoooooww! Hiiiiiissssssssssst! Rrrrrooooowwwrrr! Yeeeeooooowww! Hiiiissssstttt…!"

Max and 99 tried to keep completely still as two alley cats dashed past them away from the light. Both animals ran so fast down the alley back in the direction from which the CONTROL agents had first came, that they could actually hear their feline claws scratching the asphalt. Within a millisecond the animals disappeared into the dark.

"Aaaaarggghhh! Glupyye koshki!" Another similarly muffled voice declared.

At the Russian's exclamation, 99 breathed out a silent relief, closing her eyes momentarily.

"Blöd animals!" the first man added. "Qivickly! Vee still huv zer Burlington und Niederländisch

collection to move. You know how S-S-Nineteen getz eef vee upset her plan!"

"Da!" the Russian agreed and their boot steps retreated. "Zon't want end up like zat Czech durachit'!"

Taking a chance, Max and 99 raised themselves slightly to peer over the top of the dumpster just in time to see the two retreating figures. Both their eyes widened as they realized both the men were dressed identically in baggy white jumpsuits which extended at the neck into cowls that covered their heads. Their black anti-chemical overshoe boots clopped loudly over the asphalt as they reached the back door and only now did Max and 99 realised that a sickly green glow issued form inside the door. A closer look revealed it to be green gas swirling about inside and some were already floating out into the alley through the doorway. As the two men turned and walked through the door, disappearing into the greenish gloom, the CONTROL agents caught the unmistakable outlines of their gas masks with the smooth, conforming light gray face-piece with circular eye pieces and the heavy circular filter seeming to hang via the elongated portion that extended from the face piece making them look like some form of alien anteater.

Dropping back down and behind the dumpster, Max jerked his thumb over his shoulder at what they just saw, declaring to 99 softly.

"99—I gat a feeling, these guys aren't easy going security guards enjoying an evening of poker, beer and chips."

99 sighed with a lop-sided smile, rolling her eyes to the side as Max quickly removed his shoe. Twisting the heel to unlock it, he removed a layer of the outsole together with the heel and while 99 held it, he flips out the circular folding transmitter to reveal the rotary dial located in the middle of the outsole's front. While Max dialled, 99 listened and she could hear the men working inside the museum's basement storeroom as they had likely left the door ajar.

74 in the command and control room of the Kansas City Federal Reserve bank listened intently with a finger pressed to his ear piece connected to his Wrist Communicator T-37. The Chief stood near him, the older man wringing his hands impatiently.

Finally, 74 spoke into his T-37.

"Roger that! All units standby."

"Well?" the Chief asked, hands shaking eagerly.

"No signs of KAOS from all our agents." 74 confirmed shaking his head.

"That's it!" the Chief threw up his hands. "Seventy-Four! Contact the Air Force now and have them prepare our military transport for takeoff! The moment it's ready, withdraw all our agent's from their posts! We're heading back to D.C!"

"Gaddit Chief!" 74 nodded and began adjusting his wrist communicator to the right frequency for the call.

"Chief!" one of the bank's security guards at a console turned and held up the receiver of a phone. "Now it's a number Eighty-Six for you."

The Chief could feel the blood pounding into his temples as he crossed the space between them in 2 strides and took the receiver.

"Max! Chief here! What's happening? Are you at the museum?"

"That's right Chief." Max confirmed, the circular receiver of the shoe phone pressed to his ear and speaking into the flip-out transmitter. "And we can confirm that KAOS is inside right now. They're moving the exhibits out as we speak."

"This is a disaster!" the Chief exclaimed turning with the receiver still mashed to his ear. "Seventy-Four! What's happening?"

74 looked up from his wrist communicator, finger pressed to his earpiece.

"I've got the aide of the Chief of Staff of the Airforce on the line, Chief. He's making the arrangements now."

"Max, you heard that? We're on our way back." The Chief returned to his phone. "But we'll never get back there on time!"

"Understood Chief." Max nodded turning for a moment to ensure the KAOS agents had not discovered them.

"You and Ninety-Nine have to STALL them!" the Chief declared. "I need time to …"

"Chief!" 74 called over. "Captain Maine wants' to know if you want tuna, turkey or corned beef loaf for your in-flight MCI."

"…what?!" the Chief exclaimed turning towards 74. "Uh…corned beef!"

"We'll take the corned beef." 74 stated into his T-37.

"Max!" the Chief spoke into his phone.

"Max here." 86 stated crouched behind the dumpster, 99 pressed to his shoulder as she listened on to the activities of the KAOS agents. "That's a good choice Chief. Those airmen get the best corned beef. But are you sure you should be taking that with you blood pressure and cholesterol?"

"Max! Never mind that!" the Chief exclaimed wiping a hand across his sweating brow. "I need time to contact Inspector Clayton and…"

"Chief!" 74 called over again. "The Captain says we can't have the corned beef cause they like it too much. So it's tuna or turkey."

"Alright FINE! Tuna!" the Chief yelled over to 74 before returning to his call. "Max!"

"Yes Chief." Max nodded "Tuna's a sensible choice! It'll taste like wet cardboard but sensible!"

As Max spoke, 99 peered over the top of the dumpster to see the basement door swing open and green gas swirled out before 2 KAOS agents in their bug-eyed, long nosed GP-5 gasmasks and white jumpsuits emerged from the emerald cloud, each pushing a flat-bed trolley on which rested a large open crate filled with portraits, sculptures and other forms of art. As they turned right and proceeded down the alley to the other end, tentacles of gas clung to them for a moment like some form of intangible Kraken angered that it could not subdue it's prey, before breaking into green wisps by the increasing distance.

"Forget about the ration Max!" the Chief hollered into the phone. "I'll get Inspector Clayton down there with as many men as possible. But without the antidote, the best they can do is surround the museum. Super Sleep will…".

"Chief." 74 called again lowering his wrist communicator. "The tuna's their second favourite. They said if we pick the turkey they'll throw in some free mileage points."

"WHATEVER Seventy-Four! I'm not hungry!" the Chief yelled as he whirled towards 74 before refocusing. "Max!"

"Turkey's better for your cholesterol Chief." Max agreed. "And it tastes like CRISPY cardboard."

"Max!" the Chief exclaimed. "You and Ninety-Nine need to do everything you can to stall KAOS till they can somehow vent the building."

"Chief!" 74 called over. "They're out of turkey but they've got some left over bread and water which they're reasonably certain wont' kill us before we get to a hospital in D.C! But on our next flight they'll give us the GOOD magazines."

99, her hand on Max's shoulder watched apprehensively as he nodded, listening intently.

"Yes Chief. We'll stall them—" At this point as he spoke, Max looked over to 99 and gestured by pointing his index finger at his upper arm with a raised thumb and 99 nodded and searched her handbag. "—but Chief, I don't know how long we can hold them here with their numbers and the size of the museum.—"

99 produced the black felt pouch from her handbag and opened it, pulling out a syrette of the antidote which she quickly removed the hood and inserted the needle into her left deltoid through her jacket and squeezed the flexible tube body to trigger the injection.

"—Right Chief. Over and out." Max finished and as he flipped the transmitter shut and replaced the outsole, declared. "Alright Ninety-Nine! We're going in, against the forces of evil! But nothing! Not overwhelming odds nor threat of a horrifying painful death from knives and bullets or capture and torture must flinch us from our fight for the forces of goodness and niceness…ow! Watch it Ninety-Nine that hurt!"

"Sorry Max." 99 smiled apologetically as she titled her head down and widened her big blue eyes at him while pulling out the needle of the syrette from Max's left arm where she injected him.

The door to the museum's basement storage opened again lighting up a section of the opposite brick wall and the alley just as the other 2 KAOS agents came back with their empty trolleys. Green gas billowed out from the interior, enveloping them as another 3 white jump suited, gas masked KAOS agents emerged from the swirling vapours all bearing trolleys similarly loaded with art from the museum. The two groups nodded in greeting as they passed one another.

While the returning pair went back into the museum, the other 3 turned to their right and proceeded down the alley to it's other end as the other two had done so earlier. The 3 KAOS agents emerged at the end into a perpendicular alley, formed by the sides of the museum and the warehouse and the rear of a series of warehouses. This alley was virtually endless down to the right but to the left, it stretched for about another 300 meters before emerging onto a road.

As the 3 KAOS agents emerged, 2 of them turned with their trolleys of art to the left where there were 2, 20 foot box trucks one gray and one dark blue parked one behind the other with their rear loading ramps lowered to the street. The 3rd man turned to his right where a 3rd similar sized truck, red in colour, was parked. All 3 vehicles were pointed towards the end of the alley where the road was 300 meters away.

The trio of KAOS agents pushed their trolleys up the loading ramps into the trucks' cuboid shaped cargo area. Each of the trucks were already nearly half filled with paintings and sculptures from the museum.

Inside the dark blue box truck parked on the left closest to the museum's alley, the KAOS agent lifted one of the portraits of the Burlington collection from his box on his trolley to place it carefully against a stack of other paintings leaning against the wall of the trucks cargo area. As he turned back to his trolley, his breathing echoing inside his gas mask, the driver of this truck, the bald KAOS agent with the halo of dark blond hair strode up the loading ramp into the cargo area.

"Mein Gott!" the driver exclaimed tossing his arms in his black leather coat up in the air. "Vhat eez taking zo long?! Huv zhey got zer shtupik bird yet?!"

"Ja!" came the muffled reply filtered through the GP-5 gas mask as KAOS agent lifted out _The Night Watch_ from the box. "I zaw S-S-nineteen ordering Vollmar to lift the cage over it just now."

"Gut! Gut!" the bald driver nodded, hands on his hips. "Zhis eez taking TOO long as eet ees!"

"Vhat's zer hurry?! You moonlighting vith THRUSH again?!" the gas masked agent growled as he placed down the painting.

"Nein!" the bald driver spat in disgust as he stepped forward and lifted out another painting. "Zhey still OWE me my last pay cheques az a part-time killer und getaway driver!"

The driver suddenly stopped and looked at the painting he was holding and realized it was the _Woman at a Dutch Door._ Giving a lopsided grin at the sombre woman in the painting, he declared. "Aaaaah! Look at zhis Dutch girl! She ees makellos!"

"She ees a PAINTING, Helmut!" the jumpsuited KAOS agent exclaimed tossing up his anti-chemical gloved hands. "Und DEAD for over three hundert years, Dummkopf!"

The KAOS agent in the anti-chemical gear at the red truck hurried back down the loading ramp, his empty trolley rattling as he dragged it after him. Standing next to the ramp, dressed in black denim pants and cropped jacket over a beige turtle neck was the silver haired, gaunt, lanky, hollow cheeked driver who drove the second van at the Cramley. The jump-suited agent nodded his bug-eyed gas masked visage at the driver as he returned to the alley and the walked to the blue truck.

The other white jump-suited KAOS agent came back down the ramp from the blue truck as the lanky, hollow cheeked driver reached it.

"Vhat ees eet Gregor?" asked the bald Helmut as he walked down the ramp.

"My tluck almost foo." The gaunt driver reported in a low voice as hollow as his cheeks jerking a big thumb over his high shoulders. "Only huv space for men."

"Gut! Gut!" the bald driver clapped his gloved hands together. "Same here! Get veady to leave. I'll check on Josef."

Gregor nodded and turned walking back to his red truck while the bald driver walked in the other direction towards the lead gray truck.

"Josef! Iz your tluck loaded?" Helmut hissed as he approached his blue truck's cab and the lowered ramp of the gray truck. "Pssst! Josef! Vhere are you?! You better not be sleeping on zer job! If I miss Dean Martin again becoz of you…"

Without finishing his threat, Helmut walked up to the cab of the gray truck on the passenger side. Yanking open the door, the KAOS agent looked into the cab.

"Josef you faul hanswurst! Wake up…"

Helmut stopped, his eyes popping for Josef, instead of reclining in his driver's seat comfortably whenever he was catching his usual 200 winks was slumped sideways over onto the passenger seat, his right arm was hanging down to the floor of the cab, his snub-nosed revolver fitted with a silencer was dangling by the trigger guard from his index finger.

"Scheisse!" Helmut exclaimed reaching into his jacket and drawing his own silencer fitted revolver while his left hand snatched the walkie talkie from his belt.

Before he could speak into the communications device, a quick footfall to his right made him turn his head to see a beady-eyed, big eared man in a dim gray suit and narrow crimson tie.

Max's left hand clamped on the KAOS driver's right forearm, pushing it down to prevent him from turning the silenced revolver at him while his right knife hand slammed down onto the back of the man's neck. Helmut slumped face forward into an unconscious heap on the alley floor.

Just reaching the cab of the red truck, Gregor stopped upon hearing the noise and turned to look back up the alley. He freezes for a moment as his bulging eyes locks on the CONTROL agent standing over the still form of Helmut. Gregor immediately reaches into his denim jacket to draw his own silenced revolver. As the hollow cheeked KAOS agent aims his weapon at Max, a shadow moves out from the space between the red truck's cab and the alley wall towards his back.

99 ran up behind the lanky KAOS driver with ghostly silence and kicks low. The toe of her brown kid leather boots stabs into the soft tendons at the back of the driver's knee and the gaunt man grunts as his leg buckles, landing him painfully on his patella, his aim going wild. With Gregor's head now levelled with her abdomen, 99's right gloved hand gripping a blackjack's grip, swings hard. The weapon's round, leather bound lead head slams home above Gregor's temple with a loud ' _whump_.' The lanky driver grunted again head tilting to the side before falling forward face down on the asphalt.

At the gray truck, Max stepped past Helmut's unconscious form, flipping open the face of his watch and tipping it so 4 purple pellets dropped into his other palm. He tossed them underneath the gray truck and immediately there were 3 soft puffs and purple gas billowed and flowed out from under the vehicle. At the red truck, 99 plucked 3 pellets from her bracelet and tossed them underneath the cab bringing about the same effect with the purple smoke rolling out from under the vehicle accompanied by a sizzling sound like oil in a frying pan along with the nerve wrecking screech of metal and steel bending and buckling.

In the museum's Italian section, as the green gas of the Super Sleep agent roiled and swirled around their waists, SS-19 placed the Palermo Shearwater into a velvet lined black box, held for her by one of her gas-masked, white jump-suited agents. Even through the overpowering green hue of the interior of the museum due to the sleeping gas, the rubies, emeralds and jewels on the statuette shone defiantly, refusing to be outdone.

SS-19 clapped down the lid of the box and took it while the KAOS agent now lifted a black backpack he held in his other gloved hand and opened it up, holding it for her as she slipped the box inside and secured the straps.

Gerd and his 4 man team walked into the Italian section from the corridor as SS-19 slipped the backpack on and tugged on the shoulder straps to tighten them. SS-19 turned to face her lieutenant as he stopped before her. The 4 men behind him still had their rectangular gas tanks of Super Sleep on their backs but they had now attached a hose to the valves which led to the large bicone shaped muzzled gas throwers which were clipped on their belts.

"Zer closed circuit kameras are disabled und zer vecordings een zer C und C, destroyed." Was Gerd's muffled report through his GP-5 gas mask. "Vee have almost secured all zer art pieces on owver list."

"Gut." SS-19 nodded, her voice somehow slicing through unhindered by her mask. "Tell zer men to load what they are holding und proceed to zer vehicles."

In the basement storage of the museum, 2 KAOS agents came down the stairs against the left side wall from the museum's first floor. The one in the lead lugged the painting of _Officer and a Laughing Girl_ while his colleague behind him stumbled along while holding against his hip in both hands the large painting _Oath of the Horatii._

"Schnell Petrovich! Schnell!" the man with the bigger painting grumbled through his gas mask. "Zhis ees HEAVY!"

"Ooooh sut up Hess!" the lead KAOS agent bellowed just as indistinctively through his mask over his shoulder. "I can't zee FLOOR tlu' GAS!"

"Zhis ees STAIRS! Juz vun foot down after another dummkopf! How hard eez zhat?!" the Oath of the Horatii bearer hollered hefting the painting as he kept struggling down the steps.

"You not shut up you get foot UP ZHOPA!" Petrovich cursed still proceeding down slowly. "Ah! Laz step!" he announced as he stepped onto the basement floor finally.

Hess tossed his cowled head up, struggling with the bigger painting, exclaiming.

"HOW you vogel gehirn beat us een zer last vor I'll NEVAR undershtand!"

Walking towards the door through the waist high swirling green gas, Petrovich shook a gloved fist at his compatriot.

"Vhen vinish robbing museum and watching Dean Martin, I SHOW you how we russkiy BEAT you STUPID natsist!"

Stopping at the bottom of the stairs to shift his grip on the large painting, Hess retorted.

"You better hope zhere are no SHTAIRS betveen us virst!"

"I find stairs and TLOW your stupid natsist zhopa…arrrgghhh!"

Petrovich stumbled forward sending the billowing green gas around him swirling about, his arms out wide, painting dangling from one of his gloved hands.

"Be-CAREFUL dummkopf!" Hess yelled, struggling along with the bigger painting. "You know vhat S-S-Nineteen vill do to us eev vee damage ANY of zer art!"

"Zumting on flor!" Petrovich declared bending slightly and swinging his free arm about to clear away the green gas.

Hess continued grumbling as he staggered along with the painting but Petrovich ignored him and continued fanning away the gas until finally his eyes widened behind the circular anti-fogging glass eye pieces of his GP-5 mask as he revealed a bald head with a ring of dark blond hair.

"It's Helmut!" Petrovich exclaimed and still bent over kept fanning away the gas till he found an unconscious gaunt face. "And Gregor—and JOSEF!"

"Vhat are you TALKING about?!" Hess grumbled, still struggling along with the painting, head bent and not looking.

"Here, lemme help you with that."

"Ooooh Vielen Dank!" Hess said with relief handing the huge painting off to the helpful pair of hands on his right. "Zhere see? At least HE is helpful instead of grumbling…"

Hess cut himself off in midsentence, eyes popping behind his glass eye pieces and whipping to his right to see the bare hands gripping the painting's frame on the vertical sides. The bare hands lowered the painting to reveal a beady-eyed, big eared visage.

"Thanks." Came the clipped nasal acknowledgement. "Don't suppose you boys wanna help me put back the rest of the stuff from the trucks?"

"Shmart!" Hess exclaimed, gloved hands flying to the holstered Walther P-38 at his hip.

Max slammed down the big painting and Hess yelled out as the heavy bottom edge of the frame landed on his booted foot, his gloved hands flying to the painting and grabbing it's frame instead of his gun.

"Here, have some gas." Max suggested grabbing Hess's gas mask by the snout above the heavy cylinder of the filter and yanking in up revealing the KAOS agent's wide eyed, agonized features beneath.

Hess's yells was cut off almost immediately before his eyes rolled up and he groaned falling to the floor, snoring as he went while Max grabbed hold of the painting to prevent it from joining the sleeping KAOS agent.

"Ha, ha!" Petrovich declared his right gloved hand whipping up from his hip with a Tokarev pistol. "Zhere's TWO ov uz Shmat!"

Max's eyes popped as he turned his head to see the other KAOS agent and immediately snapped up both his hands surrendering. And of course the _Oath of the Horatii_ toppled over and slammed face down on the floor in the gas with a loud wooden crash and Max's cheeks bulged as his eyes popped again in agony as the heavy frame landed on both his feet.

"Tis iz your last bungle Shmat!" Petrovich declared aiming at Max's bulging cheeks. "Do svidaniya!"

"How about—Dobroy nochi?" came the modulated, satiny words from his right.

Before Petrovich could turn, the round lead head of the blackjack smashed down on his right forearm tearing a muffled roar of pain from him as the Tokarev flew from his gloved hand as he dropped the _Officer and a Laughing Girl_ and doubled over in pain, clutching his arm. 99, risen from the swirling green mist on his right, raised her arm and brought the blackjack in a downward backhand to slam the lead head of the weapon onto the back of Petrovich's neck.

With a strangled _oof_ , the KAOS agent toppled forward to the floor sending the green gas swelling out of the way to reveal the floor. Crouching, 99 quickly heaved Petrovich onto his side and swiftly yanked the gas mask upward to expose his broad cheeked and square jawed features. He was snoring fitfully before 99 was halfway to Max.

In the Dutch section, a KAOS agent lifted the painting of _The Milkmaid_ from the wall in one of the corridors. He turned to his right to head for the basement only to stop in his tracks as he found himself face to face with a small, beady eyed man in a gray suit and red tie along with a ravishing, brown haired girl in a dark blue jacket, orange top and scarlet skirt, looking like a pair of ghosts with the green gas billowing around their waists.

"Hi!" Max said. "We're with the Association of Ethics for Museum Robberies and we don't' think you're carrying that painting right."

"Oh?" the agent's gas mask titled. "Then what's the right way?"

"Let me show you." 99 smiled, reaching out her brown cotton gloved hands.

"Thanks!" the KAOS agent said handing the painting over before he looked back and forth between the two of them, causing the heavy filter of his gas mask to swing back and forth like the trunk of a confused, weird looking elephant as he exclaimed. "Wait a minute! There's no such THING as an Association of Ethics for Museum Robbery!"

Max rolled his eyes towards the ceiling and tossed up his hands declaring.

"SECOND time that didn't' work this week!"

The KAOS agent grabbed for the holster at his hip and plucked out a 6 inch barrelled, S&W Model 17 revolver but Max grabbed his gun wrist before it levelled, pushing it off to the side and hooked a right into his solar plexus. The KAOS agent staggered and Max's right cross struck him beneath his left glass eye piece sending him toppling into the green waist high gas. Max stooped for a moment before standing up with the KAOS agent's gas mask in his hand.

"There you see Ninety-Nine?" Max announced with a broad smile. "A pinch of stealth is all we'll need da have them OUT and snoozing before they suspect a THING!"

"It's Maxvell Shmart! Töte ihn und zer girl!"

Max and 99 turned and their eyes widened at the 2 bug-eyed, long nosed, white jumpsuited KAOS agents at the end of the corridor drawing their weapons. Turning back to 99, Max queried.

"Would you believe—TWO pinches of stealth?"

SS-19 with backpack on her shoulders, walked quickly down a green gas filled corridor, her breathing echoingly smoothly through her GP-5 mask, Gerd following closely behind her with his hang-glider team.

As they moved through the swirling green miasma, SS-19 raised her walkie-talkie to her gasmask and spoke.

"Volfpack Leader to Volfpack. Proceed to Departure Point Vun now. I repeat, proceed…"

SS-19 was cut off as distant gun shots pierced the air though she continued walking as she looked about as did the men behind her. Immediately her walkie-talkie buzzed and a muffled voice filtered over it.

" _Wolfpack Eight to Wolfpack Leader! Come in Wolfpack Leader_!"

"Zhis ees Volfpack Leader. Over."

" _Wolfpack Eight to Wolfpack Leader! I'm in the basement with Wolfpack Nine! Wolfpacks One, Two, Three, Six and Four are all down here! They're all exposed to the gas! Over!"_

Without breaking a stride, even as the gun shots continue echoing through the museum, SS-19 spoke.

"Volfpack Leader to Volfpack Eight und Nine. Take over Gryphon Vun und Too now. I am on route to your location vith Nightbird squad. Over."

" _Roger Wolfpack Leader_!"

"Volfpack Leader to remaining Volfpack. Report."

SS-19 and her group walked a few more steps with silence on the walkie-talkie before a buzz and frantic voice filtered over the device.

" _Wolfpack Seven to Wolfpack Leader! Wolfpack Eleven is down! It's Smart and Ninety-Nine! They're immune to the gas!"_

SS-19's eyes narrowed behind the dark eye pieces of her customized GP-5 as she kept walking with her group. She was silent only for a moment before continuing.

"Volfpack Leader to remaining Volfpack. Eliminate Shmart und Ninety-Nine, zhen proseed to Departure Point Vun."

" _Roger Wolfpack Leader!...Jawohl Volfpack Leedar!...Da Ser Wolfpuck Ledar!...Igen Vofpack Leedar!...Jawohl…"_

Gun fire thundered through the Dutch section of the museum. Max clutching 99's left gloved hand, his Colt Official Police in his left hand, ran at full speed with his partner right next to him, both bent low as they can as they dashed down the corridor. Bullets strafed the red carpet at their feet and raked the walls as the two gas-masked, jump-suited KAOS agent at the end of the corridor behind them kept firing, one with a Walther P38, the other a FEG PA-63 pistol with nickel plated frame and polished and blued slide. As Max and 99 ran pass a curtained alcove on their right, before which a large vase was displayed on a block stand, the artefact detonated into dozens of pieces under a trio of 9x18mm Makarov rounds sending ancient porcelain shards raining onto 99 who was closest to it.

They barely got another 7 feet before a line of bullet holes, appeared in the wall on their left near to Max's head and an opaque blue vase of pressed glass on a display stand on this side, just ahead of them disintegrated from 2 9×19mm Parabellum shells. Max had to yank 99 to a stop and partially shield her with his body as blue glass shards rained onto them.

"This way Ninety-Nine!" Max yelled dragging her into a door to their left, as he realized they would not make it to the end of the corridor.

They were greeted by sculptures of figures from Greek mythology on pedestals, stone blocks and simple display pillars all displayed in a massive room, 200 feet at it's length for it's northern and southern walls and 50 feet for it's eastern and western sides. Max and 99 found themselves entering by the southern side near the eastern end. But their salvation was short lived as they realized the room had 3 doors at both it's northern and southern sides.

The 2 KAOS agents dashed in via the door at the southern side nearest to the west end both slapping new magazines into their weapons and resumed their barrages.

Sculptures of various figures from Greek mythology shattered entirely or partially from the ballistic assault. Bits of marble and stone rained onto Max and 99 as they kept running.

As Max and 99 dashed past a small pedestal, the 3 foot statue on it of Zeus erupted into a hail of masonry. Max ignored the chunks of Parian marble that slammed against his back as he reached out with his Colt Official Police and fired 3 times without looking towards the western end at the KAOS agents yelling as he did so.

"Ninety-Nine! Look out for others!"

"Right Max!" 99 shouted above the roar of the guns as a 4 foot tall statue of Medusa next to the Walther P38 wielder exploded, pelting the KAOS agent with terracotta and causing him to weave to the right, cutting off his fire.

The other agent's FEG PA-63 blazed twice more before a glass display case to his right shattered from the Colt Official Police's .38 special hollow point reply. It caused the agent to dive to the floor as glass showered over him. The other KAOS agent straightened Walther P38 flashing.

A bust of Apollo 4 feet in front of Max and 99 shattered causing the CONTROL agents to halt their running momentarily. Max levelled his Colt Official Police again and fired twice making the KAOS agent dived for cover as another display case behind him exploded, showering him with glass. The other agent's gas-masked visage appeared again, raising in a crouch, PA-63 pistol levelled. Max swung his aim and squeezed the trigger only to have the hammer click against a spent cartridge.

Instantly 99 turned, extending her right arm over Max's bent back with her double barrelled derringer and squeezed the trigger. The KAOS agent had no time to complete his aim as a bust of Hera above his head took the .38 special missile and the right side of it's face from cheek downwards blasted out showering him with marble and ivory. As the CONTROL agents kept running with Max ejecting the empty casings from the Colt Official Police's swung out cylinder, 99 fired at the other KAOS agent who was dancing sideways in the direction of the northern wall to stay parallel to them, aiming his Walther P38. A small display case on a display block to his left exploded and he cursed, twisting away to shield himself from the flying glass.

They were halfway across the room now and Max locked back the reloaded cylinder of his Police official and snapped off a shot to keep the KAOS men's heads down while they continued running and 99 thumbed a switch on her derringer and flipped up the barrels of the weapon, ejecting the spent cartridges and thumbed in two replacements.

Just then, as they got within 20 feet from the 3rd door in the north wall, another KAOS agent appeared through it, his levelled gloved fist aiming a nickel-plated S&W Model 57 with a 6 inch barrel.

"Look out Ninety-Nine!" Max hollered turning to slam into his partner and ran them towards a large sarcophagus to their right, positioned parallel to the opposite wall just as the Model 57 spoke it's thunderous opening word.

Max swore he could feel the bullet whipping past his back just before a bust of Plato to their right detonated in a shower of high prized Pentelic marble which showered him and 99.

As they both dived down onto the floor behind the sarcophagus, the KAOS agent swung his Model 57 and fired again, the recoil pushing his gloved hand up. One of the top corners of the sarcophagus exploded under the .41 magnum assault. A third .41 magnum round from the Model 57 produced a foot sized hole in the main body of the sarcophagus and at the same time, Max and 99 both reached up resting their weapons on the relic and fired without aiming.

This caused the Model 57 wielding KAOS man to duck back out behind the door he came in from and a fist sized section of the door jamb disintegrated near his head making him duck. But the sarcophagus while giving them solid cover from him, left both of them exposed to their assailants off to their side at the west end of the room. Both the KAOS agents crouched down side by side, an arms-length apart and their Walther P38 and FEG PA-63 roared in unison.

Sections of the end of the Sarcophagus pointing towards the West end blasted and burst in small fountains of wood and marble. Max and 99, dropped backwards onto the floor on their backs as the length of the sarcophagus they were hiding against were raked by 9mm Parabellums and 9x18mm Makarovs. Max struck the floor so hard that his Colt Official Police accidentally went off twice in the direction of the KAOS agents at the west wall.

It missed them totally but miraculously both .38 calibre rounds struck the single support rod holding up a bronze statue of the _Victorious Youth_ by it's left missing foot. The statue stood to the right of the two crouched KAOS men and it now toppled sideways towards them. The KAOS agent on the right with the P38 looked to his left and a muffled yell issued through his gas mask just before the bronze statue slammed down onto his cowl and shoulders, driving him to the floor while the other agent dived forward out of the way.

Max and 99 lying on their backs blinked for a moment at what happened, while the KAOS man trapped under the heavy bronze statue groaned towards unconsciousness and the other agent crawled desperately over the debris littered floor to seek more cover.

SS-19 marched on quickly through the green mist followed by Gerd and his Nightbird team. The gun battle grew louder now and she raised her walkie talkie again.

"Volfpack Leader to Volfpack Seven. Vhat is your location und situation?"

A second later, a different voice sputtered over the walkie.

" _Wolfpuck Ten to Wolfpuck Ledar!—_ "

The KAOS agent with the S&W Model 57 yelled through his gas-mask into his walkie talkie as he hid against the wall next to the door on the outside near the east end.

"—Wolfpuck Sevan iz down!" he reported as he reached his right arm back through the door and squeezed the trigger twice shattering hand sized sections of limestone relief on the top of the sarcophagus making the CONTROL agents duck back down. "We ut Gleek sekshan!"

"Zhey ar vight bitveen uz und zer basement." Gerd's voice filtered sibilantly through his gas mask behind SS-19.

Before SS-19 could issue her next command, another voice now burst over her walkie-talkie.

" _Wolfpack Eight to Wolfpack Leader! Come in Wolfpack Leader!"_

"Volfpack Leader."

" _Wolfpack Eight to Wolfpack Leader! Gryphons One, Two and Three are out of commission! All their axles are melted through! Some kind of acidic GAS!_ "

SS-19's hidden eyes behind the dark eye pieces of her gas-mask narrowed again as her only response before she spoke.

"Volfpack Leader to Volfpack Eight und Nine. Help Volfpacks Five, Ten und Tvelve eliminate Shmart und Ninety-Nine, zhen proceed to Departure Point Two. Over."

" _Wolfpack Eight to Leader! Copy that!_ "

SS-19 turned immediately into a corridor to her right and Gerd and his team followed, as flawlessly as soldiers on parade heralded by a cheering crowd.

"Vee should get Shmart now." Gerd offered behind her.

SS-19 put up a gloved hand and this was sufficient to answer him as she spoke again into the walkie-talkie.

"Volfpack Leader to Nighthawk Leader. Come in."

Some distance away in an equally well hidden alley between a warehouse and an office building, three International Harvester Metro vans were parked, one behind another, the lead van being gray while the second and third vans were light blue and black respectively.

In the lead van's driver's seat sat Kerstin wearing a light green turtle neck, the upper part of her anti-chemical jumpsuit lowered to her waist, her tawny locks pulled back into a neat bun at the back of her head. Her right bicep bulged as she raised the walkie talkie in her gloved hand to her silky textured lips as she answered.

"Nighthawk Leedar here."

SS-19's glacial alto voice sliced unimpeded through gas-mask and communications filter.

"Volfpack Leader. Initiate Plan Beta-Vun. Over."

"Jawohl Volfpack Leader. Over. Nighthawk Leedar to Gryphon Five und Six. Move out."

With that, Kerstin turned the ignition key bringing the metro van's engine to life which was followed by a similar response from the other two vans behind her. The 3 vehicles moved out smoothly and turned into the road.

"Ninety-Nine! In case we don't get out of this, there's something I need to tell you!" Max yelled as he fired twice at the door jamb to keep Wolfpack 10 back.

"Max don't say that!" 99 cried shaking her head, sending he shoulder length brown hair flying about shaking fragments of marble and glass off it, where she sat on the floor, leaning against the limestone relief of their sarcophagus cover.

"This is IMPORTANT Ninety-Nine!" Max insisted as Wolfpack 10 emerged again and the Model 57's next .41 magnum cartridge disintegrated a top corner of the sarcophagus making them flinch.

"Yes Max!" 99 waited eagerly, leaning towards him, her large blue eyes shining with apprehension, fear and hope as Max stared deep into them, his beady eyes bright as he put a hand to her warm cheek sending a warm sensation down her neck as he uttered the words she believed she had waited so long to hear from his think lips.

"Ninety-Nine." Max whispered his breath caressing her face causing 99's eyes to close despite the danger around them.

"Now Max!" 99 whispered, her soft satin surfaced lips feeling the warmth of Max's mouth nearing them.

"I want you to take the empty bottles of soda pop I left in my kitchen, turn them back to the store, take the fifteen cents they'll give you for returning them and buy Fang his favourite brand of dog food. Remember da pay for the rest yourself."

99 turned her face away from him, eyes opening to reality and sighed wishing the next bullet would hit her.

SS-19 ran out onto the gas filled hallway followed by Gerd and Nightbirds 1 to 4, their gas canisters bouncing on their backs. The green gas shrouded the bottom 6 feet of the marble columns in the hall as they dashed past towards the main double bronze doors of the Western façade of the building.

SS-19 reached the doors first and pulled on the left one, allowing them to slip out. Each of them emerged on the other side, the emerald gas clinging to them momentarily. They were greeted by the massive 8 columns at the top of the West side staircase. SS-19 ran out last just as the 4 members of Nightbird 4 emerged clear of the columns, approaching the front stairs. That was when the voice over a loudhailer thundered through the night freezing them where they stood.

"THIS IS INSPECTOR CLAYTON OF THE M-P-D-C! YOU ARE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED! PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!"

SS-19 came up behind the 4 members of Nightbird team with Gerd, and she had just a second to take it in. Looking past them, down the wide front staircase, she saw, over a dozen police squad cars arrayed across the entire illuminated plaza at the bottom of the stairs. Their rotating beacons on the roof of the police cars flashed in a sea of blue and red. SS-19 made out the force of over 20 uniformed police officers hunched low behind their cars parked sideways about 20 feet from the bottom steps of the staircase, service revolvers and shotguns aimed towards the top of the stairs. She saw 2 men in plain, suits and ties among them, one heavy set in a tan suit and gray fedora, the other speaking through the loudhailer, leaner and broad shouldered in a darker suit and matching fedora.

"I REPEAT! PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN AND YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!" Inspector Clayton issued over the loudhailer.

Immediately, the 4 members of Nightbird teams whipped up their gas throwers, bicone shaped muzzles aiming down at the plaza.

"NEIN! NEIN! NON! NET! STO…" SS-19 yelled through her gas mask but her warnings came too late.

The night air rocked with gun fire as every service weapon and shot gun on the police side blazed repeatedly to life. Nightbirds 1, 2, 3 and 4 staggered as bullet after bullet smashed their upper bodies and legs. SS-19 and Gerd barely had time to turn and dash back, diving behind the columns for cover. Nightbird 3's knee cap shattered along with his chest and he was the first to collapse sideways to the ground and he was followed swiftly by Nightbird 1 who took 5 bullets to the chest from Sergeant Krantz's 3 inch barrelled S&W Model 36 and other police officers' revolvers. Nightbird 4 dropped onto his knees as a .357 magnum hollow point from the inspector's 6 inch barrelled S&W Model 19-2 revolver drilled his left thigh, producing a fountain of blood as it exited through his hamstring and a shotgun blast hit him through the ribs.

Crouched behind one of the thick columns, SS-19 edged out just in time to see Nightbird 2 fall last of all, pitching forward and landing face down on the stairs and slid down partially, the lifeless weight of his body jerking and bouncing slightly on the steps before coming to a stop 5 steps from the landing.

"Scheisse!" Gerd cursed, his Walther P1 in his gloved hands.

Sergeant Phillip Krantz lowered his smoking Model 36 as he asked the Inspector.

"SHOOTING foreign spies qualify as double overtime right? I mean, we're doin the Fed's job for them aint we?"

Clayton shrugged, loudhailer and revolver in either hands.

"We could always put up the paperwork."

Krantz shrugged nonchalantly, pouting his lower lip as he remarked.

"Sure, the bank won't foreclose on my house till I retire. Who needs a roof over his head anyway?"

The KAOS agent belly crawled across the marble and limestone strewn floor as the CONTROL agents fired at the doorway at Wolfpack 10. He managed to reach the display of a brown, closed Klazomenian sarcophagi where he rose to a crouch, reloading his FEG PA-63 pistol.

Max and 99 ducked down as Wolfpack 10 emerged from the door jamb, S&W 57 rock steady in both gloved hands. The revolver roared and recoiled twice blasting more limestone relief from the slab of the sarcophagus. Even as limestone rained down on their hair and jackets, Max and 99 heard the empty clicking of the Model 57's hammer.

Max immediately sprang up and leaped onto the partially destroyed limestone slab of the sarcophagus and sprang off it towards the door in the southern wall. Wolfpack 10 had his back against the wall on the other side with the door at his right shoulder, cylinder of the Model 57 swung out, gloved thumb mashing the ejector rod to empty out the empty shell casings while he fumbled at his belt for spare ammunition.

Max was 5 steps from the doorway when the KAOS agent behind the Klazomenian sarcophagi, the top of his cowl barely visible above the artefact, aimed his FEG PA-63 pistol.

"Look out Max!" 99 shouted levelling her Derringer and squeezing the trigger. A palm sized chunk exploded outwards from the leading edge of the stone slab, causing the KAOS agent to duck back down.

This gave Max the time to reach the doorway just as Wolfpack 10 thumbed the 2nd .41 Remington Magnum cartridge into the Model 57's chamber. Max dashed out of the door to his right and the KAOS agent froze gaping behind his GP-5 gas mas as the CONTROL agent levelled the Colt Official Police at him.

 _Click! Click!_

Max stared at his revolver with the hammer striking without any effect. Then he looked up at the equally shocked Wolfpack 10, still frozen in the midst of reloading.

Straightening and grinning happily, Max suggested, pointing back and forth between their weapons as shots continue to thunder away from inside the Greek section.

"Uuuuh…heh! Listen. It looks like we both have things we need da take care of so—how bout I come back in a few seconds when we're both loaded and ready to kill each other."

"No problam." Came the Wolfpack 10's muffled reply. "Only need ONE bulet."

With a flick of his hand, he locked back the cylinder of the M57 and whipped it up to aim at Max's big nose. Max flinched, squeezing his eyes shut.

 _Click!_

Max opened his eyes and realized by some luck, the hammer of the M57 had slammed down on an empty chamber. He saw Wolfpack 10's gloved finger tightening on the trigger and the cylinder turning with a loaded chamber moving next to align itself with the barrel.

Springing forward, 86 weaved to the right and brought the square butt of his Colt Official Police across into the ventral side of the KAOS agent's wrist. Wolfpack 10 yelled out in rage more than pain as his gloved hand popped open and the M57 fell. Even before it landed on the floor, his other gloved hand whipped in and clamped onto Max's gun wrist and pushed it up. As both men struggled against each other, Max found himself held in line with the doorway which gave the KAOS agent behind the Klazomenian sarcophagi a clear aim at him.

99 took the chance and dashed out from behind the sarcophagus she hid behind, running the length of the room towards the western end hoping to get a clearer line of fire, Derringer aimed at the KAOS agent and squeezed off the second shot. This time, the shot detonated a chunk of brown clay on the far edge of the sarcophagi's stone slab cover inches from the KAOS's agent's right arm making him duck back down. This gave Max the time to bring his knee up into Wolfpack 10's ribs causing the man to grunt in pain. Max leaned forward pushing his opponent back down the corridor, getting clear of the doorway.

With about 40 feet between her and the KAOS man behind the sarcophagi, 99 had no choice but to duck behind a marble copy of the _Doryphoros_ statue. As she flipped up the barrels of her Derringer, ejecting the empty cartridges to reload, the KAOS agent emerged again and realizing Max was out of his line of sight turned his FEG PA-63 towards his secondary objective and blazed twice. 9x18 mm Makarovs shattered the Doryphoros statue's left pectoral followed by a section of his abdominal muscles. 99 could hear Max and Wolfpack 10 hidden from her view outside the northern wall of the exhibit room still struggling and fighting as she thumbed in new .38 S&W Special rounds into the breeches of her Derringer.

The sarcophagi KAOS agent smoothly released the box magazine from his PA-63 and locked in a new one before firing again. 99 cried out flinching to her right as Doryphoros's right hand at his side exploded into marble bits which struck her with needle like force. The FEG PA-63's muzzle flashed twice and a fist sized chunk of the statue's hip detonated into a fountain of marble dust followed by Doryphoros's entire genitalia.

"Autsch!" the KAOS agent swore, squirming where he crouched behind the sarcophagi, his legs clamping together instinctively.

99 leaned out from behind the statue, and her gloved finger squeezed down on the trigger. Another chunk of clay on the edge of the sarcophagi stone slab nearest to the KAOS agent exploded. He roared in alarm behind his gas mask as a pellet of clay struck his right eye piece cracking it making him bend his head, clapping a gloved hand over the damaged eyepiece.

99 swiftly pivoted up the barrels of her over-under double barrelled Derringer, catching the cartridges that spilled out in the palm of her gloved hand. Discarding the spent one, she thumbed in the good one and loaded another shell into the second barrel. Locking the barrels and cocking the hammer, she dashed out from behind Doryphoros and continued her run towards the hidden KAOS agent, the low heels and outsoles of her brown kid leather boots crunching over the debris on the floor. She ran 10 feet when out of nowhere, a flash of white and gray appeared out of nowhere right into her path and she almost collided into it.

This latest KAOS agent must have come in through the middle door in the southern wall but fortunately, some of the exhibits had hidden her from view and he was as startled as she was to find her there. But he reacted quickly, his left gloved hand shooting out to grab her gun hand while his right gloved fist raised his Tokaypt-58 pistol at her face. 99 just managed to grab his right wrist with her small gloved left hand and pushed it out of the way as the man pushed her gun hand down.

It was futile as she could hear the KAOS agent growling behind his gas mask giving credence to his bug-eyed monster look as he began pushing his right hand back to align the Tokaypt-58 with her head. Even with her muscles locked 99 realised it was barely slowing down the man's far superior upper body strength.

"Max! Max help!" 99 cried out with her head bent in effort.

Outside in the corridor, Wolfpack 10 and Max were still locked together in their struggle as 99's cries pierced the northern wall.

"Ummmphf!" Max grunted as he held a growling Wolfpack 10's right forearm at bay while his opponent held his gun hand in an equally forceful grip so he had no choice but to yell. "Ninety-Nine! Tell the KAOS agent trying to kill you, nicely, to pencil me in for a rescue, next THURSDAY!"

At that moment, Wolfpack 10 brought Max's gun hand down on his knee twice, popping open the beady eyed agent's hand, sending the Colt Official Police dropping. The KAOS agent yelled in triumph under his gas mask and delivered a left hook which Max ducked under returned with a right cross that smashed into the gas mask at the base above the elongated portion which held the cylinder filter, snapping back Wolfpack 10's head. But the KAOS agent recovered almost instantaneously letting fly a right cross of his own. Max blocked it on his left forearm and threw a right uppercut into the man's solar plexus doubling him over and delivered a right knife hand down onto the back of his opponent's neck.

Wolfpack 10 dropped face down in a white heap. Max rolled the unconscious KAOS agent over and grabbed his gas mask, yanking it off revealing a bearded face. Just as Wolfpack 10 snored away fitfully through his beard, a movement at the end of the corridor at the West end of the Greek section made Max look up to see another gas masked and white suited form run round the corner to face him. Standing right in line with the first door at the Northern wall nearest to the West wall of the Greek section, the new arrival raised a Smith & Wesson Model 39 pistol and the corridor echoed with it's roar.

Max barely had time to dive out of the way and shoulder rolled into an alcove displaying a large blue and white Tulip Vase on a display block. Concrete spitting bullet holes burst out in a line travelling towards the alcove as Max crouched in it, looking out to see his Colt Official Police out in the corridor beyond his reach.

Her head bent and her face twisted with effort, 99 could see out of her peripheral vision, the muzzle of the Tokaypt-58 slowly turning towards her head despite all the strength she could muster into her left arm and hand.

The KAOS agent behind the sarcophagi put up his head, left gloved hand still pressed to his right eye piece and levelled the polish and blued slide of his FEG PA-63 but he realised the back of the other KAOS man was now in his way.

"Volfpack Nine! Out ov zer vay!" he yelled at his compatriot as he shifted his aim in varying degrees from left to right. "Get your FAT arsch out ov zer vay you ungarisch dummkopf!"

"KISS my SEGG you book burning náci pojáca!" Wolfpack 9 swore twisting his cowl covered head to swear over his shoulder.

With the KAOS agents' preoccupied with their antipathy towards each other, 99 gained the split second of opportunity she needed, to plant her right boot further back for support and lashed out with her left leg. Her left boot heel, stomped into Wolfpack 9's crotch.

"Ooooof!" Wolfpack 9's breath exploded outwards behind his gas mask, his eyes popping behind his circular glass eye pieces and 99 felt his right arm slacken along with his grip on her right wrist.

Stiffening the muscles in her right downwards pointing arm, she shifted it just a few inches to the left and fired the Derringer downwards.

A small hole erupted on the instep of Wolfpack 9's left overshoe boot as the .38 S&W Special round nose bullet found it's mark sending rubber, leather from his shoe underneath and blood from his foot spewing out. Wolfpack 9 roared like a bear behind his gas mask dropping onto his right knee and bending forward in agony.

As Wolfpack 9 continued to roar in pain, the KAOS agent behind the sarcophagi finally took his aim having a clear shot with Wolfpack 9 on his knee, bent over.

99 was not waiting as she raised her left knee, planting her boot on the wailing Wolfpack 9's shoulder and stomped downwards to catapult herself up into the air, using her temporary elevation of 4 feet or so off the ground to aim downwards, clearing the Klazomenian sarcophagi. The KAOS agent, one gloved hand clapped over his cracked right eye piece still managed to react. He bent lower behind the sarcophagi till the top of his titled head was barely visible while raising his blued and nickel plated FEG PA-63, just as 99 squeezed the trigger of her Derringer in mid-air.

The second .38 S&W Special round arrowed clear of the sarcophagi with 99's added elevation and smashed downwards at an angle through the KAOS' agent's right temple and the left temple of his white anti-chemical cowl turned red as the bullet exited in a shower of blood and brains.

99 landed with the downward passage of her body causing her scarlet A-line skirt to umbrella upwards exposing her slender, hard thighs. She had no time to blush as the moment her boots touched the floor, she was running again towards the sarcophagi at the same time pivoting up the barrels of her Derringer to eject the shells and began thumbing in new ones from her jacket pocket while Wolfpack 9 continued hollering in pain behind her where he sat on the floor, clutching his bleeding foot.

The KAOS agent kept firing, the roar of his weapon in the confined corridor drowning out 99's single shot of her Derringer and his gas mask cutting off his peripheral vision so he did not see the KAOS agent behind the sarcophagi fall. The Tulip Vase turned into a conflagration of Delft pottery as 9mm Parabellums blasted it. Pottery fragments rained down on Max as the Model 39's slide locked back.

"That's it buddy! You're in trouble now!" Max yelled as the KAOS agent ejected the empty magazine. "Surrender and I'll make sure you'll get LIFE imprisonment, without hope of parole or early release on good behaviour, but with immunity against fines from the museum board!"

"Can I have a cell with a window?!" the KAOS agent asked locking home a new magazine and thumbing the slide release.

Max stuck his head out of the alcove, pouting in indignity.

"JUST a minute! Now THAT'S going too—FAR!"

"Can't please everyone I suppose." Shrugged the KAOS agent before levelling his Model 39 again and blazing on making Max duck back and the edges of the alcove detonated and showered him with bits of plaster and wood.

99 reached the Klazomenian relic and threw herself laterally onto it's stone slab cover, head pointed towards the north wall, to roll herself over it and land in a crouch on the other side with the fallen KAOS agent who laid on his back, his eyes behind his eye pieces staring up at nothing along as blood and brain fluid poured flowed in a miniature waterfall down the side of his head and pooled over the floor. 99 snatched up the fallen blued and nickel finish FEG PA-63 and stood up just as 20 feet in front of her, Wolfpack 9 finally rose up, hobbling on his remaining good foot. He hopped on the spot turning to face her, pistol in his gloved fist levelling and murderous rage in his eyes behind the GP-5 glass eye pieces.

At the same time to 99's left was the KAOS agent at the doorway at the Southern wall firing down the corridor at Max. He did not turn as his gas mask likely limited his peripheral vision. With a yell of rage, Wolfpack 9 brought his Tokaypt-58 to aim but 99 already had the FEG PA-63 in her left gloved hand aimed at him while her right arm was crossed over her breasts aiming her Derringer under her left arm at the doorway at the Northern wall.

99 squeezed the triggers of both weapons at the same time and Wolfpack 9 jerked as a 9x18mm Makarov struck him dead centre drilling his heart and exploding out his back while the Derringer's .38 S&W Special round-nose shell smashed into the Model 39 wielding KAOS agent under his right armpit and blood fountained out the exit wound under his left armpit and sprayed the wall on that side, the force slamming him against it.

Wolfpack 9 fell onto his back on the floor, eyes unseeing behind his circular glass eye pieces while the other KAOS agent slid forward with his lifeless weight against the wall before slumping down onto his face.

With the KAOs man in the corridor down, Max stepped out of the alcove only to duck his head and dive back in as several shots rang out. He tried to shoulder roll only for his head to first hit the wall inside the alcove with a bump that drowned out the shots for a moment.

Turning and slumping down onto his butt on the alcove floor, Max clutched his cranium with one hand, eyes going in all direction. Another shot snapped him to attention and he shook his head to realize the shots were not in the corridor but from back inside the Greek exhibit room. Blinking his eyes to clear it, Max lunged to his feet.

Inside the Greek exhibit, another KAOS agent had appeared through the centre door on the southern side and was now side stepping across the room, a Walther P38 in one gloved hand and a CZ52 pistol in the other. The pistols thundered repeatedly, alternating from one to the other and small explosions erupted across the brown stone slab on the Klazomenian sarcophagi as 99 remained crouched low behind it, unable to return fire due to the continuous twin weapon barrage.

Showers of brown stone and dust rained down on 99 as she covered her bent head. The KAOS agent advanced now towards the sarcophagi, P38 and CZ52 blazing in unison. 99 cried out as a large chunk of stone struck her back causing her to jerk lower.

In the corridor, Max stooped snatching Wolfpack 10's fallen S&W Model 57 and without stopping charged headlong through the door back into the Greek exhibit.

The edge of the stone slab towards 99 started shattering and disintegrating under the combined 9 mm Parabellum and 7.62x25m Tokarev barrage and the back of 99's dark blue cropped jacket turned brown just as Max rushed back into the room, levelling the Model 57. The GP-5 gas mask deprived the KAOS agent of his peripheral vision and his gloved fingers kept squeezing the triggers of his twin pistols obliterating the almost the entire edge of the sarcophagi. He dashed the last 5 feet towards his target, eyes blazing with victory behind the circular lenses of the just as Max squeezed the trigger of the Model 57 and the cylinder rotated, aligning the loaded chamber and the muzzle thundered, drowning out both the P38 and CZ52's roars. The KAOS agent convulsed as the .41 Remington Magnum jacketed hollow point shattered his spine and erupted in a star shaped shower of blood from his chest. The Model 57 roared again and the last round repeated the same effect a few inches lower on his spine.

99 cried out in shock as the gun shots were replaced by a loud thump and she looked up to see the GP-5 masked face of the KAOS agent hanging over the edge of the sarcophagi's shattered stone slab. She could just make out his lifeless eyes behind the circular glass eye pieces causing her to jump to her feet. As she backed off, she saw the man had fallen on his knees at the sarcophagi, carried by his own momentum and his upper body was slumped forward over the stone slab of the relic on his chest. Thin steaks of blood fanned out from the bullet holes in his anti-chemical suit between his shoulder blades and another a few inches lower but 99 knew this was neat compared to the exit wound in his chest which why she was glad the KAOS agent was face down on the sarcophagus though she could already see thick rivulets of crimson streaming out from under both sides of his upper body to flow and stain the stone slab.

"Oh Max! You saved me!" 99 exclaimed running over to him Derringer in one gloved hand and the blued and nickel plated FEG PA-63 pistol in her other.

"Nothing to it Ninety-Nine." Max smirked tossing the smoking, empty Model 57 aside where it landed with a loud clatter on the masonry strewn floor. "You can pay me back with ONE simple favour."

99 gasped at the countless implications of that statement and as her breasts rose under her dark blue jacket, and her heart pounded inside her chest, she asked, blue eyes blinking and flashing with anticipation.

"And…and what would that be Max?"

Max waved his finger about the devastated sculptures, relics and assorted displays in the room while his other hand's thumb remained hooked into a vest pocket as he declared.

"If the Chief asks, tell them this was all YOUR fault." To which of course, 99 sighed with undecided relief or disappointment as she grimaced and rolled her eyes sideways at him.

Inspector Clayton gave a hand signal to Krantz who nodded and emerged from behind the squad car he was taking cover at and dashed towards the front staircase of the museum. At another signal from the inspector, a dozen or so uniformed policemen followed suit with their service revolvers and pump-action shotguns ready. While the remaining force of police officers aimed their weapons at the top of the stairs, Krantz lead his team swiftly up the staircase.

Clayton lifted a walkie-talkie of his own, speaking into it.

"Clayton to East Entrance team! Sergeant Bolesławowic, stay sharp. We gat em cornered at the West side. They might try da get out at your end. Stop them but stay clear of the gas."

At the East side of the museum, about 20 feet from the bottom of the stairs was another dozen or so squad cars similarly parked with uniformed police aiming their weapons towards the top of the staircase. A uniformed sergeant with white hair at the temples, spoke into his walkie talkie.

"Roger that Inspector. We've got this side covered."

"Zhey are moving on our pozition!" Gerd hissed from the column where he was crouched behind. "Vee huf to go back to the basement! Tell Kerstin to meet uz zhere!"

SS-19 lifted the walkie talkie to her gas mask.

"Volfpack Leader to Volfpack. Come in Volfpack."

Max and 99 looked about at the disembodied voices come from multiple directions and it came over again.

" _Volfpack Leader to Volfpack. Come in Volfpack_."

99 turned back towards the sarcophagi where she had taken cover and pointed with her Derringer at the walkie talkie on the dead KAOS agent's belt. They ran over to the agent slumped on his chest over the stone slab and Max retrieved the walkie-talkie just as the voice repeated.

"Volpack Leader to Volfpack. Vhat is your situation? Are Shmart und Ninety-Nine eliminated? Over."

Max and 99 gaped at each other for a moment realizing the situation they were in. 99 nodded at the walkie-talkie, her eyes wide, urging Max to answer.

Max hesitated another a split second before he placed the walkie talkie down on the sarcophagi and quickly tore the gas mask off the dead KAOS agent who laid face down over it. Putting the mask up to his face to press it to his mouth, he pushed the PTT and gave a suitably muffled reply.

"Ja!"

Krantz and his men reached the bottom of the staircase and began moving up in a wedge shaped formation with him at point, their weapons pointed upwards at the top of the stairs.

"Let's move!" Gerd urged. "Shmart is dead!

SS-19 put up a gloved finger to halt him again as she spoke.

"Volfpack Leader to Volfpack. Vhat eez your number?"

Max looked up, eyes wide, GP-5 still held to the bottom half of his face as he shrugged desperately at 99 who whispered as she pointed with the polish and blued slide of the FEG PA-63 in her left gloved hand at the body of another KAOS agent.

"Nine! That's the KAOS agent over there."

SS-19 listened as the reply came back over the walkie talkie.

" _Dis ees Wolfpack Nine! Ovar!"_

SS-19 pressed the PTT and spoke again.

Max and 99 listened as the icy smooth voice came over the walkie-talkie, seemingly spoken by a female without a gas mask. And for some reason without knowing why, both of them suddenly felt as though a cold draft now blew against them though the greenish gas at their hips seem to stir only from the minor movements of their bodies.

" _Volfpack Leader to Volfpack Nine. Tell me, vhat phrase follows zhis—_ _Siralmam, fohászkodásom_ _,_ _Láttatik kívül._ "

Max's eyes popped and stared back and forth between the walkie-talkie in his hand to 99, shoulders hunched and his hand holding the gas mask raised in complete loss, hoping the answer would just fall into his palm from the ceiling.

"Volfpack Leader to Volfpack Nine. _Siralmam, fohászkodásom_ _,_ _Láttatik kívül_." SS-19 repeated as Krantz and his men came to within a few steps of the landing.

Gerd stared at SS-19 while keeping his Walther P1 aimed at the top of the stairs, ready for the onslaught of police officers to pour onto it.

Max stared at the ceiling tossing up his hands in defeat but 99 grabbed his arm whispering.

"Max! She's speaking Hungarian!" 99 said with an emphatic shake of her head. "I heard one of the other KAOS men refer to Wolfpack Nine as a Hungarian! She suspects something so she's testing to see if you can understand what she's saying! If we can convince her that her men killed us, we can lure her back this way into a trap!"

"I don't SPEAK Hungarian!" Max exclaimed with wide popping eyes.

"Max! It's a poem! She's reciting a phrase from a Hungarian poem!" 99 assured squeezing Max's wrist to calm him and bent her head slightly as she struggled to recall something. "I…I think it's called…O… _Ómagyar Mária-siralom_ or _Lamentations of Mary_. It's the oldest existing piece of Hungarian poetry, in which the Virgin Mary cries over the crucifixion of her son Jesus. The phrase she just said _—"_ Siralmam, fohászkodásom, Láttatik kívül"—Mary's basically saying "My lament, my prayer. Can be seen from outside" _._ "

His eyes remaining wide and beads of sweat now pouring down his forehead, Max exclaims, his hand with the gas mask gesturing causing the gray face piece and big cylindrical filter to flop like a weird bird struggling with a tin can.

"Couldn't we tell her da go with " _The_ _Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe"_?!"

"Max, look at me. Just take a deep breath, and repeat after me.—" 99's modulated, velvet tones somehow wrapped a blanket of calm around Max he never knew possible. He found his entire vision occupied by her soft, warm moving lips and each word that emitted from them brought with it a wave of warmth and comfort that slowed his heart and clear his mind like a summer's spell chanted in a breeze across a lush field. "—The next lines are, "My heart's inner ache. Never abates". Szívem—belső—fájdalma—" 

SS-19 listened to the reply filtering through the walkie-talkie.

"… _belső fájdalma Soha nem…any…eh…enyhül_ _! Ovar!"_

Gerd's eyes stared at SS-19 in bewilderment as he listened to the reply.

SS-19 thumbed the PTT.

"Veldone. However, I know for a fact, zhat Volfpack Nine's appreciations…"

99 sighed heavily, her delicate features falling in disappointment as they listened to SS-19's frost like voice over the walkie-talkie.

"… _of art und literature extends no further zhen a poster of Betty Grabel und her million dollar lower limbs_."

"Now JUST a minute! You can rob our banks, steal millions of dollars in life's savings of hardworking Americans, turn our military secrets against us and run away with the world's greatest art pieces—" Max declared, eyes wide and indignant. "—but insulting Betty Grabel's LEGS?! That's crossing a line, lady!"

"You vin zhis round Shmart…und Ninety-Nine whom I assume aided in your linguistics und literary prowess."

"S-S-Nineteen I take it?" Max states nonchalantly. "Look, it's been a stressful night for everyone. So why don't you, Vollmar and Kerstin come back in with the rest of your boys, toss off those tight, sweaty gas masks and we'll all unwind with a nice—BREATHING exercise. DEEP breaths!"

As the sound of boots and shoes on the stairs came within audible range, SS-19 replied.

"Anazer time. Volfpack Leader to all units. Initiate Gamma Vun—now!"

SS-19 immediately turned the frequency knob.

"Volfpack Leader to Nighthawk leader. Come in."

It took a moment before Kerstin managed to switch frequencies.

" _Nighthawk Leader to Volfpack Leader. Vee are vithin visual range of Departure Point Two. Vut vee cannot approach vith so many polizei there! Do you vunt to move to Departure Point Three?"_

"Nein." SS-19 answered "Zhey vould be zhere as vell."

Gerd aiming his P1 through the columns saw the caps of the policemen coming into view above the top steps of the stairs.

"Zhey are here!" He hissed at SS-19 and took aim for the first head that comes into his sights, gloved finger applying the first pressure on the trigger.

"Nein!" SS-19 ordered. "Öffne die Türen!—Volfpack Leader to Nighthawker Leader. Initiate Beta Three-Alpha."

" _Jawohl Volfpack Leader!"_

"Vhat?!" Gerd exclaimed, his breathing fast and rasping through his gas mask.

"Öffne die Türen!" SS-19 repeated clipping her walkie talkie at her utility belt as she turned to take a look round the column where she hid and saw Krantz's face appeared at the top of the steps followed by several uniformed police.

Gerd's crystal blue irises were still staring blankly at her from behind the circular lenses of his GP-5 from where he crouched behind his column so SS-19 repeated in English.

"Open zer DOORS!"

Blue light flickered behind his mask's eye lenses as Gerd blinked rapidly and took a split second more to realize what his leader wanted. Swivelling around where he crouched, he saw the tall double bronze doors of the museum from which they had just exited. He was taking cover in the second row of colonnades, at a column which placed the door almost directly behind him. Holstering his P1, Gerd darted over to the door with serpent like speed, grasped the handles with his gloved hands and pulled.

SS-19 crouched behind a column in the first row, saw Krantz arrived at the top of the stairs followed by several uniformed officers to either side of him, weapons aimed into the colonnade as they stepped over and around the bodies of Nightbirds 1,3 and 4. Reaching into the top of her left boot, she drew out with a scrape of steel against leather, a Kampfmesser 42, it's 9 inch parallel edged, spear pointed blade seeming to gleam with it's own light in the dark.

"There!" Krantz pointed at the darting shadow by the door and the uniformed officers to either side of him aimed their weapons. "Stop where you are!"

There was a soft rumble of door edges grinding against each other and the bronze doors parted. Krantz and the uniformed MPDC police officers opened fired, their service revolvers and Mossberg 500 shotguns blazing. Gerd dived away from the doors as sparks burst out against the heavy bronze. But the doors continued to open and like a shapeless emerald monster released from it's prison, the _Super Sleep_ gas, poured out, swirling and roiling.

"It's the gas! They've released the gas!" a broad shouldered officer on Krantz's right pointed with his Mossberg.

As the MPDC officers watched, the gas, rendered a luminous green from the light in the museum's hallway, billowed and swirled outwards to the right, left and forward, enveloping the massive colonnade. The gas wave enveloped Gerd and SS-19, rising to nearly half the height of the columns.

"Get back! Everyone get back to the cars!" Krantz yelled.

The dozen or so uniformed police turned and ran back down the stair case with Krantz in the lead, running as fast as his bouncing beer belly would allow him.

Clayton yelled through the loud hailer.

"GET BACK HERE! KRANTZ! GET EVERYONE BACK HERE!"

Krantz and his men jumped the last few steps onto the landing and kept running, their shoes echoing loudly on the marble. The green gas completely enveloped the area at the top of the stairs and spilled slightly onto the staircase.

SS-19 emerged from her hiding place and ran through the gas, past the columns. Hidden by the gas cloud, she dropped into a crouch next to Nightbird 4's bloody corpse laying on it's belly. The Kampfmesser 42 glinted as she whipped the long blade slashing the straps that held the rectangular gas tank to his back.

Grabbing the harness frame of the tank, she stood up with the tank at her side. Bending her knees slightly, she began rotating on the spot, her right arm extended, rectangular tank in her gloved hand. Round and round she kept turning on the spot, and as the momentum build, her extended right arm rose higher and higher till it was levelled with her shoulder while still holding onto the heavy tank in her hand. The green vapors around her swirled about like a gaseous whirlpool as she kept spinning like an athlete winding up for a discus throw, the sound of the heavy tank's passage beginning to produce a 'whumping' sound in the air.

Gerd still crouched behind a column, squinted behind his gas mask eye-pieces with bewilderment as SS-19 began rotating so fast her arm and the rectangular tank at the end began turning into a blur.

Then finally SS-19 released her grip on the harness at the end of a final rotation, her arm snapping upwards as she did. From out of the gas cloud hiding the top area of the stairs and part of the colonnade, the rectangular tank with it's severed straps, rocketed out of it into the night sky, trailing a wisp of emerald vapor as it flew.

"What the hell?!" Inspector Clayton exclaimed looking up along with several officers to either side of him as Krantz and his team ran across the plaza towards them.

The rectangular tank arced through the air, over the plaza and reaching the pinnacle of it's climb, began falling down, it's trajectory arrowing it towards the middle of the blockade of police squad cars. Inspector Clayton realized too late what was going on.

Before the inspector could shout a warning, SS-19 still hidden in the mist, standing at the top of the stairs, aimed the integral-suppressor barrel of her Luger P08, following the downward journey of the falling tank. Her gloved finger squeezed down on the trigger and the toggle arm clacked sharply.

10 feet above the heads of the police officers at the squad cars, the 9mm Parabellum round struck the rectangular tank and it erupted into a giant, star-shaped green cloud which expanded at an immense speed. The police officers could only stare for a moment and Krantz's team halted in their run, their shoes skidding on the plaza floor just 15 feet from their colleagues to gawk at the spectacle.

The tentacles of gas extending out from the main mass of the cloud arced outwards and down, extending it's reach over the entire cordon of squad cars and it's accompanying MPDC officers. And then uncharacteristically fast, the entire cloud fell, it's tentacles and bulbous central mass at the same time.

"Run!" Inspector Clayton yelled, turning and bolting in the direction of the pavement.

Krantz and the dozen MPDC officers with him could only stare as the green cloud descended upon their cars and their scrambling colleagues, cutting off their escape. They saw several of their fellow officers collapsed almost immediately either where they stood or in mid run trying to follow the inspector. Others tried to shut their doors and roll up their windows but they were not fast enough and fell into drug-induced slumber over the dashboard. A chorus of loud multi-toned snores emerged from the thickening cloud.

"Back off! Back off!" Krantz yelled and his group back-pedaled across the plaza towards the staircase again.

SS-19 still at the top of the staircase, now lowered her suppressed Luger P08 down at the body of Nightbird 2 which still laid face down on the stairs near the landing. The toggle arm of the luger snapped and clacked again and the gas tank on Nightbird 2's back exploded.

The detonation whirled Krantz and his group around to see the gaseous green monster roiling across the landing while at the same time began flowing down the stairs towards them in a vaporous, emerald avalanche.

"Get to the sides!" Krantz yelled and his group split into two, charging in the directions of the pools at either ends of the plaza, hoping to circumvent the gas.

Unfortunately, the gaseous wave at either ends coming down the staircase, curved and merged with the wall of roiling green covering the squad cars.

The 7 or 8 uniformed officers running towards the left end of the plaza skidded to a halt as they realized their escape was cut off. They turned to run the other way but the vapor swept over them, cutting them from view and the slumps of their bodies on the plaza was followed swiftly by their fitful snoring.

Krantz skidded to a stop, his heavy belly wobbling as a wall of green gas roiled before him and his remaining raiding party of about 6 officers. They swiftly backed off as the roiling green cloud closed on them washing over the plaza.

Max and 99 ran through the museum, cutting a swath through the waist high green gas.

"I KNEW it! I KNEW it!" Max declared as he ran with 99 close on his heels. "They HAD to be getting out by the West side!"

"Then why did we go to the East side first Max?!" 99 queried as her booted feet raced along.

"THAT'S—how I KNOW they're at the West SIDE! PLEASE Ninety-Nine, keep UP!" Max answered and behind him, 99 sighed rolling her eyes as she ran.

Krantz looked about, his jowls shaking as his white side-burned head turned from side to side while the tidal wave of green gas closed in on him and his remaining officers. But this urgency was overtaken by sharp thumps echoing through the night. They recognized them as gun shots but they were not coming from their colleagues at the cordon which now issued only a cacophony of snores.

The officer immediately on Krantz's right twisted about as blood sprayed from 2 exit wounds in his back. As he fell, another officer shook as bullets shattered his chest. Krantz raised his revolver at the gas covered staircase together with the remaining 4 officers but they could not see anything.

Another two of the officers were struck, through chest and sternum, convulsing them before they fell and Krantz's snub-nosed S&W Model 36 blazed again and again along with the service weapon and Mossberg 500 shotgun of the remaining police officer at the gaseous slope before them with no apparent target present.

Hidden in the swirling smoke, Gerd stood at the edge of the landing locking home a new magazine into his Walther P1, keeping the barrel aimed at his targets and continued firing. The officer with the Mossberg 500 got off a thunderous final shot and as he pumped the forend again, 2 9mm Parabellums shattered his sternum knocking him off his feet. Before he struck the plaza floor, the last uniformed officer twisted as a bullet tore through his shoulder and another shattered his rib cage. Krantz in the middle of reloading his Model 36 gawked at the dead officers around him before looking up at the gas shrouded staircase. Finally, the gas seemed to swirl lower and there he saw, a tall figure in a white jumpsuit with a gray face, huge bug-eyes and a long snout with a large cylinder at it's end, aiming a weapon down at them.

As the portly detective with the white sideburns locked home the reloaded cylinder of his Model 36 and aimed the revolver, Gerd squeezed the trigger. As the P1's muzzle flashed repeatedly, Krantz staggered as 9mm Parabellums struck his chest and 3 sprays of blood erupted between his shoulder blades, turning his tan jacket red.

Krantz landed with a loud flop on the plaza, beer belly wobbling, eyes staring upwards into the night sky seeing nothing just before he and the rest of the MPDC officers were covered by the sweeping gas wave.

Gerd didn't even hear her approach before SS-19's gloved hand closed around his wrist with bone grating force, pushing his gun hand down.

"Vhat are you doing?!" her hiss came through the gas mask and despite his own anti-chemical suit and gas mask covering him entirely, he could feel her icy breath caressing his neck. "Zer GAS vould have neutralized zhem!"

Gerd shrugged his lean shoulders indifferently as his muffled answer came through his gas mask.

"DEAD—better zhan nu-tlalized any day."

"Genug!" SS-19 hissed. "Let's go!"

Clayton, walkie-talkie in left hand and right arm across his nose and mouth and S&W model 19-2 in his right hand, dashed ahead of the gas wave together with only 3 uniformed officers, two of them with their Mossberg 500 pump action shotguns.

They managed to reach the pavement and realizing the gas did not extend further, stopped running. Breathing hard, Inspector Clayton lifted the walkie-talkie, mashing the PTT.

"Clayton to Krantz, do you read me, over!...Clayton to Krantz! Phil! Are you and your guys okay? Come in!...arrrgghh! Clayton to East side cordon! Clayton to East side cordon! Come in Bolesławowic! We need…"

The Inspector stopped as a gray International Harvester Metro van driving by made a U-turn in the middle of the road and came to a smooth stop at the curb just 10 feet in front of them with the driver's side facing in their direction.

"…oooh for god's sakes!" Clayton swore and signalled to his officers with his gun hand. "GET this guy out ev here before he lapses into a coma and loses whatever overtime he's after!"

One of the officers with the Mossberg 500 stomps towards the Metro van and the walk-in sliding door slides aside as he approaches while the other two uniformed MPDC officers stare back at the roiling green cloud that shrouded the plaza, the flashing light bars from the squad cars in their cordon just barely visible through the gas.

"… _.Bolesławowic to Clayton. Come in Inspector. What's your status_?"

Inspector Clayton whipped up the walkie-talkie again.

"Bolesławowic! This is Clayton! They've sent the gas OUT onto the plaza! Krantz and most of my guys are down! We think they're…"

The roar of gun shots cut Clayton off and brought the other 2 officers on either side of him spinning around just in time to see to see 2 jets of blood erupt from the back of the officer at the van. The officer fell to the pavement his Mossberg 500 clattering on the concrete and Clayton's eyes widened as he found himself staring at the symmetrical cheekbones and tapering jawline of the tawny haired waitress from the Cramley, standing at the door of the Metro van. She was clad from the waist down in some form of baggy lower half of a white jumpsuit while a lime green turtle neck hugged her upper body, displaying the stony curves of her deltoids and biceps along with the sensual fullness of her breasts all which distracted him for a second before he saw the gun in her gloved hands.

The illumination from the museum plaza reflected as emerald light from Kerstin's eyes as she lifted the smoking Browning Hi-Power in her hands and fired twice moving her aim as she did, twisting the second officer with the Mossberg 500 about as the 9mm shell drilled his pectoral and the last uniformed officer convulsed, his service revolver falling out of his hands as a bullet shattered his sternum. The Inspector's S&W Wesson 19-2 swung to aim and the Browning Hi-Power flashed a few times, barely jumping with the recoil in Kerstin's solid gloved grip.

Clayton staggered back, upper body convulsing as 9mm Parabellums drilled both his lungs, exiting with welters of blood on either side of his spine while the 3rd and 4th shots pulverized his heart.

The Inspector struck the pavement with a wet smack just as 2 figures emerged from the green fog covering the museum plaza, dragging tendrils of the gas along with them.

Kerstin moved aside and allowed SS-19 and Gerd to board the van and move into the back before taking the driver's seat again.

Max and 99 emerged from the green smoke at the top of the steps and gazed out at the vaporous scene before them, interrupted only by the stubborn flashing of red and blue light from the squad car's light bars, trying to break through the haze.

"Oh no Max! Those police officers!" 99 pointed at the pavement with a brown gloved finger. "And the Inspector!"

"I see them." Max nodded and pointed as well. "And the van! It's SS-Nineteen and Vollmar!"

They watched as the gray Metro van roared away from the curb and sped down the road. Almost immediately, the wail of sirens filled the air. Max and 99 turned to see police cars, light bars flashing red and green, screeching around a corner to their right, likely from the East side of the building and sped down the road after the van. The squad car was followed closely by another. And another, and another. They counted about 8 cars before Max decided.

"Come on Ninety-Nine. Let's go get my car."


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

Kerstin's overshoe boot pressed down smoothly on the gas pedal sending the speedometer moving rapidly as they accelerated. In the cargo area of the van, SS-19 cowl and gas mask still on, placed down her backpack with the Palermo Shearwater in it carefully just behind the passenger seat in the cab. Gerd was crouched at the rear double doors of the van looking out the windows in them, his crowl pulled back and gathered around his neck, gas mask off, and his ivy league hair-cut of light blond hair rumpled with odd ends sticking out slightly due to their long constriction by the GP-5.

"Zhey are gaining on us!" he reported as the flashing of the light bars from the squad cars began to invade the box interior of the Metro van.

In the lead squad car, Sergeant Bolesławowic in the passenger seat barked into the palm sized microphone of his car shortwave radio.

"…I repeat! Thirty officers down at the National Museum including Inspector Clayton and Sergeant Krantz! Send all available paramedics and fire trucks! And on hindsight, some really BIG FANS!"

The squad cars sped along, their sirens piercing the night as the Metro Van put on a burst of additional speed, trying to pull away.

"Suspects are heading North on Crenshaw and 5th!" Bolesławowic reported. "Units C23 through C30 are in pursuit! All units! Set up road blocks at Billington and Third, Seventh and Eighth!"

As the last squad car in Bolesławowic's group sped by it was followed a few seconds later by a flash of red as the Sunbeam Tiger roared after them with Max clinging to the steering wheel. As the wind whipped 99's hair about, Max flicked a switch on the dashboard and the black top of the convertible raised up, unfolding and spreading over their heads.

"Max they're approaching an intersection!" 99 reported.

Max shifted gears and they were both pressed back into their seats as the Sunbeam surged forward, closing the gap between them and the last police car.

"Drei minuten from first intercept!" Kerstin at the wheel yelled over her shoulder.

"C23 to despatch!" Bolesławowic spoke into the microphone. "Suspects are approaching intersection of Crenshaw and D street!"

The gray Metro Van roared into the intersection and Kerstin yanked the steering wheel to the left, executing a smooth turn despite the size and speed of the vehicle. The screech of the tires and burning of rubber filled the air as the convoy of squad cars followed, swerving and turning smoothly.

""C23 to despatch!" Bolesławowic updated via the microphone. "Suspects are now headed East on D street!"

" _10-4, C23_." Answered the despatch. " _Units C16, 17, 4 and 6, R12 and R15 are in position at Billington Third, Seventh and Eighth."_

Max's Sunbeam Tiger purred as it swerved into the left turn, less than a car length behind the last squad car.

"Max! This doesn't make sense! There were THREE trucks back at the museum and close to a dozen more men inside!" 99 said as they finished the turn and continued on a straight course. "We've disabled the trucks so why are they using only one van for their escape?!"

"I believe it's a positive sign Ninety-Nine!" Max offered as he veered right and left trying to pass the last squad car.

"Why?!"

"It means CONTROL isn't the ONLY one working on a limited budget!" Max answered, punctuating with a nod making 99 frown at him.

The gray Metro van raced down the single-lane, one way D street past rows of small shops and eateries towards a right turn at the end where a row of 5 storey apartment buildings stretched off to the right after the turn.

"That's it!" Bolesławowic declared to his partner in the driver's seat. "After this next turn, we've gat em!"

At the halfway point down D street, SS-19 instructed.

"Now!"

Kerstin reached down with her right gloved hand under the dashboard and took hold of a specially installed black lever which she yanked. A low sound of a motor came to life somewhere beneath them. Under the chasis of the Metro Van near the rear bumper, a large ellipsoidal tank had been installed with 3 downward pointing spouts. The hum of the motor issued from the tank and it's attached hoses and tubes. Immediately, thick black liquid poured from the three spouts, splashing into the asphalt below, leaving a darker stained road as the Metro Van surged on.

Without noticing it, the squad cars sped onto the liquid stained road as they continued their pursuit. The apartment building and the right turn at the end of the street grew larger in the windscreen of the Metro Van.

Trailing behind the last squad car, Max rapidly closed the distance and prepared to pass it. 99 blinked leaning closer to the Sunbeam's windshield.

"Max! What is that?!" she asked squinting at the road. "It's like the road turned darker!"

Kerstin eased back on the gas pedal and yanked the steering wheel to the right. Gerd and SS-19 held on to whatever they could find in the back as the Metro Van weaved in a sharp turn, black fluid still spilling from the tank under them. As they completed the sharp right turn and roared down the street, Kerstin shouted back over her shoulder as she pushed the lever again turning off the tank.

"Road block ahead!"

"Stop now." SS-19 instructed.

Kerstin eased the Metro Van to a stop about 5 blocks from the turn behind them and about 300 feet before them at the next junction, several police cars were parked, blocking off the intersection and a voice over a loudhailer announced.

"MPDC! EXIT THE VEHICLE WITH YOUR HANDS ABOVE YOUR HEADS!"

" _C-16 to C23_." Came the voice over the microphone in Bolesławowic's palm. " _We have suspect vehicle in sight. They have stopped._ "

"Roger C16!" Bolesławowic answered. "DO NOT! I repeat DO NOT approach them until we have them boxed in!" Turning to his partner he urged. "Go! Fast! Let's teach these foreign spies that our banks, armoured cars and museums are meant for good ol AMERICAN criminals ONLY!"

The police officer nodded and floored their gas pedal surging at the turn.

Max and 99 stared at the darker road before turning to each other, eyes wide and both exclaimed at the same time.

"OIL-SLICK!"

Bolesławowic's squad car swerved sharply into the turn only to continue spinning as their now oil-coated tires found no purchase on the oil covered asphalt. Their squad car spun round and round, oil fountaining from all 4 tires.

"Aaaaaaaarrrrrggggghhhh!" Bolesławowic and his partner hollered, grabbing onto the dashboard as the world turned into a merry go round in their windshield.

Their squad car spun off the road onto the curb and the vehicle's rear end crashed into the front steps of an apartment building and the momentum sent them tearing up the stairs and finally stopped with the rear bumper inches from the front door. The second and third squad cars were already carrying out the same feat, spinning round and round as they made the turn. One of them spun onto the pavement and smashed sideways through a lamppost which toppled over onto it's roof, sparks exploding from it's base. The third car crashed laterally into the apartment itself, caving in a section of the façade. The 4th car finally reacted the driver jammed on the brakes instead of making the turn but the tires continued sliding over the oil slicked road. The car shot over onto the curb right at the downward pointing nose of Bolesławowic's squad car on the front stairs.

Both the Sergeant and his partner yelled out as the headlights of the incoming squad car white lit them, before the crash came. The 4th car stopped finally but the rear bumper of Bolesławowic's squad car was thrusted further upwards and crashed through the front doors of the apartment building.

Inside the lobby of the apartment building, an old woman with her equally elderly husband in sweaters and grays stepped out of the elevator into the lobby. They stopped as they saw the rear end of the squad car, covered in concrete and wood fragments and dust, in place of the front doors and part of the wall of their building.

"Ma." The husband waved a wrinkled hand at the carnage. "It's those dang cops chasing spies and falling for the oil slick again."

His wife shrugged her frail shoulders as she turned back towards the elevator, leaning on her walker and quavering.

"I told you Pa. This is the reason why they invented Dean Martin. So we don't HAVE da take walks!"

"Right you are Ma." Her husband admitted following her.

At the road block, the police officers at their cars, weapons pointed at the van, started looking past it at the carnage.

"WHAT is going on?!" an African American female officer exclaimed to her partner.

"I hate da say it." Her partner sighed as the 5th and 6th squad car spun and crashed, adding to the pile up at the turn against the apartment building. "Bolesławowic just can't seem da function without his Nine P-M doughnut fix."

"Hold on Ninety-Nine!" Max declared as he reached for the armaments panel and pushed a square button with a label beneath it.

"I-A-O-S-T-W?" 99 squinted at the label. "What is that Max?"

"Professor Windish's latest automobile defensive system!" Max declared. "The Instant-Anti-Oil-Slick-Tire-Wash utilizing a high-powered, degreasing, non-slick agent and coating!"

As he spoke, inside each wheel well, 2 small nozzles installed on the inside of the well, pointed inwards at the wheels at the 10 and 2 O'clock positions, sprayed a clear white liquid against the spinning wheels. Instantly, the oil coating the Sunbeam's tires melted away and as the cleaning agent flowed down to the asphalt, it cleansed the oil from the surfaces in the wheels' passage leaving 2 lighter coloured strips in the Sunbeam's weake.

The last 2 squad cars crashed into another lamp post and the 6th car respectively, caving in it's quarter panel and trunk.

Max jammed on the brakes as they approached the pile up and the Sunbeam's tires found purchase against the asphalt again, screeching to a smooth stop, one car length from a crashed squad car on the pavement.

"The Professor's done it again!" 99 exclaimed.

Max frowned and pouted.

"Well Ninety-Nine! Just da set the record straight, 'I' was the brains behind this latest invention!"

"Really Max?!" 99 asked, her blue eyes wide and flashing in the light. "Did you help him with the trial runs?!"

"Eeeeh no!" Max admitted.

"You developed the basic molecular composition for the degreasing agent?"

"Not so much."

"You assisted the professor in the design of the deployment mechanism?"

"Nope."

"You helped the professor install the system in your car?"

"I was on vacation at the time."

99 tilted her head and sharp chin as she frowned.

"Then how did you help?"

Max nodded with absolute certainty as he declared his brilliant contribution.

"I left my dishes unwashed for two weeks so I asked the Professor for a new washing detergent that'll do the soaping and the cleansing in ONE go!"

99 let out a slow breath, sinking back into her seat as she rolled her eyes sideways at Max.

Kerstin floored the accelerator and the gray van leaped forward.

"Prepare da fire!" the lead officer at the road block yelled to his colleagues as they all aimed their weapons.

But the gray Metro Van only surged forward about 10 feet before it swung into a full 180 degree turn and roared back the way it came towards the pile up at the turn.

"Go! Go! Go!" the senior officer yelled as every one of them scrambled, jumping back into their squad cars and turning up the engines.

"Max! They're coming back this way!" 99 cried out looking to her right.

Max put the Sunbeam in reverse and backed their vehicle away from the pile up just as Kerstin swung the van back onto D street with a left turn this time. As the Sunbeam roared backwards, the sprays in the wheel housing continuing to cleanse away the oil, the Metro Van did not stay on the asphalt itself but instead drove up onto the pavement for it's journey back in the opposite direction.

For a moment, the Sunbeam and the Metro Van paralled each other, travelling in the same direction but with Max's surging in reverse. Max and 99 looked to their right at the Metro van surging down the pavement knocking aside trash cans and mail boxes sending them flying without care and they saw Kerstin turn her tawny head towards them as she drove the van, locking eyes with them for a moment before returning to the windscreen.

Max eased on the brakes and spun the wheel turning the Sunbeam in the street till they faced the same direction as the Metro Van on the curb, sacrificing some distance between them as they did.

The squad cars from the road blocks came to the turn but the first car while trying to bypass one of the vehicles in the pile up, hit the oil slick and was added to it causing the rest of the cars to screech to a stop in caution.

Now facing the same direction as the van, Max slammed the gear shift into Forward and floored the accelerator sending the Sunbeam hurtling forward after the van.

After a few hundred meters, the Metro Van veered back onto the road as it reached the point where they had first began the oil slick and thus where it ended. Max rapidly closed the distance as the gray Metro van roared back towards the intersection. They had to veer past a few cars headed in the right direction on D street but fortunately other than more shouts and curses, there were no crashes.

But as they got to the intersection, there was a red light which of course did not stop them. Kerstin turned right sharply, continuing their path down Crenshaw, right in the path of an incoming brown buick which had to swerve sharply to avoid the van. The pick-up truck behind rear ended it and horns blared through the streets.

Max steered the Sunbeam past the 2 car pileup which seemed tame after what they just witnessed and continued their pursuit.

The gray van's rear bumper grew closer as the Sunbeam closed the distance. Expectedly, when they were within 50 feet, the left panel of the van's rear double door swung open and they saw Gerd crouched there, his Walther P1 pointing back at them.

Gerd fired several times and the bullets struck the hood and windshield of the Sunbeam leaving white scratches and sending sparks flying.

"They would be brimming with so much more niceness if they joined me in the breathing exercises!" Max declared as 2 more 9mm Parabellums bounced off the windshield.

"Verdammt rüstung!" Gerd cursed as his P1's slide locked back and he yanks the door shut shouting at his companions. "Can't get past eez armour!"

"No matter." SS-19 stated.

"Zwei minuten to second intercept!" Kerstin reported.

The gray van veered to the right as Max closed in and then it made a sharp right turn onto another road causing him to overshoot slightly.

"You know what Ninety-Nine?" Max asked as he applied the brakes and then slammed the gear shift into 'R" again and started backing up.

"What's that Max?" 99 asked craning her head to catch sight of the gray van.

"Despite everything that happened at the museum—" Max stated as they reached the turn and he switched the gears again and resumed their pursuit. "—I think, I STILL found it a really great place da relax when I'm confused."

The Sunbeam hurtled down the road, the gray van a number of car lengths in front.

"But Max!" 99 exclaimed. "There were KAOS agents there at every turn trying to kill us! We were under constant threat from one perilous second to another, our lives in complete jeopardy on the verge of a sudden and painful death at any moment!"

Max leaned towards her before turning to look at her and answering with a punctuated nod.

"Aaaand—LOVING IT!"

The gray van sped through a small intersection and almost immediately sirens filled the air and squad cars surged out from the side roads on either side and swerved sharply onto the primary road behind them.

"The Chief really came through on getting the police's help!" 99 declared as they saw the squad cars pull onto the road in front of them one after another.

"Yes I just hope they remember one very important thing!" Max nodded.

"Extreme caution when they're going to arrest Gerd, Kerstin and S-S-Nineteen?"

"No. Da wipe clean all my speeding tickets for helping them chalk up double over time." Max swore.

The flashes from the squad cars' light bars began filling the inside of the gray van again.

"I count six polizei cars!" Gerd reported from the rear windows.

SS-19 raised her walkie-talkie and spoke.

"Volfpack Leader to Gryphon Five. Come in."

" _Gryvun Vive here_."

"Intercept een vun minuten."

" _Jawohl Volfpack Leedar."_

Kerstin shifted gears and floored the accelerator pulling them away from the lead squad car. Their Metro van sped past another junction and immediately, there was a roar of another engine to the right.

The officers in the lead squad car sat up in their seats as a light blue International Harvester Metro van shot out from the road on the left ahead of them and turned onto the road.

The light blue Metro van veered about as Kerstin's van pulled further and further away.

"It won't let me pass!" the officer in the driver's seat yelled, twisting the steering wheel from right to left. "It's GADDA to be one of theirs!"

"Unit C12 to despatch!" his partner next to him spoke into their radio. "Be advised, suspects have second vehicle. I repeat, suspects now have TWO vehicles. Second vehicle is also a Metro Van, light blue, license plates …."

The gray van continued charging down the road with the light blue van about 5 car lengths behind it keeping the squad cars at bay.

"Don't tell me you were right about them having more than one van on account of there being three trucks to being with!" Max exclaimed.

He turned as 99 did not answer to see her tilting her head and shrugging her slender shoulders in her dark blue cropped jacket.

Max's eyes widened as he asked again.

"Well?! Were you right?!"

99 sighed putting up her gloved palms facing the retractable roof and titling her head as she cautiously acknowledged.

"It seems so Max."

Max tossed his head back as he rolled his eyes up and exclaimed.

"DIDN'T I ask you NOT—to tell me that?!"

As 99 sighed and planted her face in her right gloved palm, the light blue Metro van pulled away from the lead squad car. The driver, dressed in black with a brown turtle neck, sunglasses covering his eyes and thick red hair in a taper cut, gripped the wheel expertly in his black leather gloved hands. His hidden eyes checked his side mirror to gauge the distance of the lead squad car before he lifted a walkie talkie.

"Nighthawk Vun een Gryvun Fünf to Volfpack Leedar. Deploying countermeasure Vun."

" _Volfpack Leader to Nighthawk Vun. Acknowledged_."

Nighthawk 1 reached over to a panel, bolted onto the dashboard with wires running from it, reaching under the dashboard and down into the floor. His gloved finger flicked a switch causing several indicator lights to come to life before he pushed a button labelled "1".

Underneath the van attached to the undercarriage near the rear bumper were 5 small pylons similar to those found on jet fighters. Each pylon held a black metal sphere about the size of a soccer ball. The first sphere from the left dropped from it's pylon, struck the road and began rolling, left behind as the van pulled away.

"It dropped something." The passenger officer in the lead squad car pointed.

The sphere rolled for a few seconds before splitting open sharply with a whoosh and a shower of hundreds of sparkling objects flew into the air. But as they landed on the road, spreading across the entire width of the asphalt, they are revealed to be 4 pointed pieces of steel, with 3 points forming a stable base while the 4th point speared skyward.

The lead squad car sped without slackening speed onto them unawares. The detonation of their tires drowned out their sirens for a moment. The driver slammed on the brakes in vain as the car spun out of control. The second squad car's wheels suffered a similar fate a second later and swerved, crashing into the still spinning lead squad car. The third car managed to veer out of the way but found themselves shooting over onto the pavement and crashing through the display window of a store. As the officer driving began backing out, it's wheels spinning in reverse struggling for traction, the other 4 squad cars finally realized what was wrong and came to abrupt brakes. Max veered past the last vehicle and the 4 squad cars flashed by on his side in a blur of white, blue and flashing red, blue lights.

They could see the devastative steel implements across the road just beyond the squad cars, reflecting the lights of the stores on either side of the road, making them look like hundreds of stars on the asphalt.

"Max! They're caltrops!" 99 realized.

"Don't worry Ninety-Nine!" Max assured as the remaining mobile squad cars began taking side roads.

99 held her breath as the Sunbeam's tires sped over the caltrops, sending some by the side scattering but no loud 'bang' of a puncture was heard and they began closing on the light blue van.

"Bullet proof tires, reinforced with titanium ore!" Max announced to 99's relief.

Ahead the vans were approaching a 3-way junction and they saw the gray van turning right onto it's horizontal arm. A second later, the light blue van followed suit. Max slammed the gear shift and pressed down on the accelerator.

But despite their speed, before they reached the junction, a series of familiar sirens were heard and several MPDC tore down the horizontal arm of the junction directly behind the metro vans. Max and 99 counted 5 cars zipping by before they managed to reach the junction and the Sunbeam swung smoothly onto it.

The lead squad car began closing their distance with the light blue Metro van.

Nighthawk 1 stepped down on his gas pedal, widening the distance between him and the police cars as the street lights illuminated his black glasses. Raising his walkie-talkie he spoke.

"Nighthawk Vun to Volfpack Leedar. Five polizei cars behind us. Shmart is unaffected by Countermeasure Vun. Deploying Countermeasure Two und Three!"

" _Volfplack Leader. Nighthawk Vun, proceed."_

Nighthawk 1's gloved finger stabbed the second and third buttons on the special purpose panel labelled '2'.

Under his Metro van, the 2nd and 3rd spheres dropped one after another and Nighthawk 1 floored his accelerator expanding the distance between him and everything behind him.

The officers in the lead vehicle were again taken off guard as the first sphere split into 3 quarters neatly like a sliced watermelon, spewing out what looked like thick orange paint that spread across the entire road from curb to curb. The second sphere followed suit further ahead and they found themselves facing about 200 feet of orange road.

Not knowing what to think, the lead car followed by the second car sped onto it, sending a wake of orange fluid spewing from the road. Almost instantly, their tires were completely coated with the orange liquid along with their axles. They managed to get another 10 feet before their tires stopped entirely as though they had stepped on the brakes and both squad cars slurped to a grinding halt in the middle of the swath of orange fluid.

The 2 driving officers struggled with the controls, slamming their shoes down on the gas pedals repeated but while the engines roared defiantly, the wheels did not move at all.

"I have GOT to get a transfer to a town with normal criminals!" one of the drivers exclaimed tossing his uniform cap onto the dashboard in frustration. The 3rd squad car roared onto the orange covered asphalt and met the same fate before the last 2 squad cars managed to brake on time, tires screeching to a halt inches from the trap.

"What IS that?!" 99 wondered, her blue eyes wide as Max veered to the right and arrowed past the remaining two squad cars who were reversing and trying to find side roads. "Max! Let's find another way around!"

"We'll lose them!" Max declared as the Sunbeam tore onto the affected section of the road sending orange flying from all 4 tires momentarily.

The Sunbeam managed to plough past the first 3 stalled squad cars before slurping to a halt as well just 8 feet from the end of the orange patch, causing Max and 99 to be hurled forward, seat belts cutting into pectoral muscles and breasts.

"Just as I thought!" Max deduced looking out the windows. "The ol Super-Super-Super-Super-Glue-on-the-road-trick! That's the THIRD time this month!"

"Max! They're getting away!" 99 pointed at the windshield where the 2 van's were shrinking as they continued their escape.

"Never fear!" Max declared putting up a finger for emphasis. "We have Professor Windish's latest invention for JUST such a situation!"

Reaching to the armaments panel, Max pushed a button labelled "S.S.S.S.G.R"

Immediately, the nozzles inside the wheel wells and additional nozzles located near the axles and others lining the underside of the front fender, whined to life spraying a colourless, liquid. Almost immediately the orange liquid over the wheels and axles dissolved and the clear liquid washed down the tires and nozzles spraying from under the front fender tackled their orange foe on the asphalt itself.

99 gasped looking out the window as she saw the orange fluid peeling away revealing the road again.

"There you have it Ninety-Nine!" Max nodded with satisfaction. "Super-Super-Super-Super-Glue-REMOVER!"

With that, Max floored the accelerator and the wheels freed from the adhesive spun free and hurtled the Sunbeam forward. The nozzles continued to cut a path through the orange menace until they were freed of it.

As the Metro vans began expanding again in their windshield, Max explained.

"Professor Windish was unusually humble about THIS invention but I think it's in-genius! A remarkable new chemical I've never heard of called—ACETONE! Although, he claimed da have spent some time refining it to remove the flammable components while retaining it's solvent properties!"

99 squinted slightly as she kept her eyes on their quarry as she queried.

"You…you mean nail polish remover?"

Max took a deep breath to reply but then his mouth froze in the open position as he uttered.

"Huh?"

"Acetone is used in nail polish remover Max." 99 explained.

Max frowned, finally shutting his mouth and pouted as he reflected on it, saying.

"So THAT'S why the Chief had a seizure when Windish showed im that Lab bill for twenty thousand dollars."

"Where was the bill from Max?"

"Maybelline."

The Sunbeam's engines purred smoothly as it veered left and the right past a Le Sabre, then a Ford to finally come within 50 feet of the light blue Metro van. Sirens again filled the air and some distance behind them, another MPDC squad car screeched in from a side road, followed closely by another and another.

Nighthawk 1 growled as he saw the red car closing in and reached for the panel again swearing.

"You von't SHTICK! You go BOOM instead!"

His gloved finger stabbed the 4th button and the corresponding sphere dropped from it's pylon and rolled backwards.

An indicator light on the armaments panel blinked as a high pitch beeping sounded.

"What's that warning Max?!"

"It's a land torpedo!" Max exclaimed as the sphere sped towards them.

He jerked the steering wheel and veered to the right out of the sphere's way. But instantly, both of them did a double take as the sphere stopped spinning and suddenly flew up into the air into an arc about 8 feet at it's zenith before hitting the road and shooting up into the air again.

"It's a BOUNCING land torpedo!" Max pronounced, eyes popping as his hand lunged for the armaments panel and flicked a switch labelled "CANNON".

On the Sunbeam's hood at the centre of it's leading edge, a 1 foot long vertical rectangular panel slides aside laterally and with a whine, a nickel plated barrel 40mm in width emerged from it pointing forward.

"Max! We can't let it get past! It'll kill the police officers behind us!" 99 pointed.

"Time da take the bounce out of it's roll!" Max declared before frowning at what he just said.

The sphere struck the asphalt and bounced up again into it's uniform arc. Max turned a knob on the armaments panel and the barrel whined as it elevated about 70 degrees off the plane just as the sphere reached the peak of it's arc and began falling towards the windshield of the Sunbeam. Max stabbed an oval button which lit up red illuminating it's label "FIRE". The cannon muzzle flared with a soft boom and puff of white smoke as it unleashed it's ammunition.

Sphere met cannon projectile 7 feet in the air about 6 feet in front of the Sunbeam and a ball of fire erupted in the air. Both Max and 99 squeezed their eyes shut from the glare as the Sunbeam sped under the mid-air roiling ball of flames. Their vehicle rocked from the blast as it's armour absorbed the concussion force though the armour fabric of their convertible room domed inwards for a moment causing them to sink into their seats.

"Oh meine strudel!" Nighthawk 1 exclaimed at the thunder clap of the explosion and gaping at the yellow flare in the side mirror which was replaced almost immediately by the white flare of the Sunbeam's headlights as it closed in.

Max turned the knob again and the cannon whined back into it's flat elevation as the Sunbeam closed to 40 feet of the van's rear bumper. Nighthawk 1 lunged for the last button but Max's finger stabbed the oval button again, lighting it up.

The cannon flashed and boomed softly with it's puff of white smoke and every traffic sound was lost in the following explosion as the rear bumper and part of the cargo box section of the light blue Metro van erupted outwards in a mixture of fire and fragments of twisted, burning metal that arced into the air in every direction, along with both it's rear tires which flew off to either side, trailing smoke and flames.

The remnants of the light blue Metro van's rear slammed down onto the asphalt and continued dragging along, sparks joining the flaming wreckage of it's rear for a while before it came to a stop.

Max arrowed the Sunbeam past the partially burning remnants of the light blue vehicle towards the gray Metro van in the distance.

Nighthawk 1 stumbled and fell out the driver's side door of the van onto the asphalt, his black sunglasses tilted on the bridge of his nose as one of the squad cars wailed to a stop near him. A moment later the 2 MPDC officers were approaching him with weapons aimed.

Nighthawk 1 groaned slumping his cheekbone down onto the asphalt.

"Oof!..Zumdays, it dussent pay to lay off zer lagerbier!"

Gerd, still crouched at the back doors of their gray Metro van whipped his light blond head around to report.

"Gryphon Five eez down! Shmart ees clozing!"

"Three minuten to third interception!" Kerstin yelled back over her shoulder as she shifted gears and pumped the accelerator.

SS-19 sitting with stone like stillness despite the shaking of the van raised her walkie-talkie and spoke through her gas mask.

"Volfpack Leader to Nighthawk Two. Prepare Gryphon Six for interception."

Parked somewhere between two buildings, blending into the dark with it's black paint job, the third Metro van's engine rumbled softly. Nighthawk 2, a heavy set man with a bald head encircled at ear level by a halo of platinum blond hair, dressed almost entirely in black, with a leather windbreaker zipped up fully only revealing the only break in colour in the form of his gray turtle neck at his throat, sat in the driver's seat. He lifted his walkie-talkie in his black leather gloved hand answering.

"Priznannyy, Wofpak Leedar."

Nighthawk 2's other gloved hand reached to the dashboard and pulled on a special lever which caused some indicator lights to blink to life, reflecting off his round framed mirror lens glasses.

The entire van resonated with the hum of a motor which was not it's engine and at the front of the vehicle's flat face, it's 2 sectioned rectangular grilles moved forward out of it's recesses, each held by 2 thick steel cylindrical struts. The telescopic struts extended till the grills were about 2 feet from the van's face. The motor continued humming and the thick front fender of the van seemed to lower itself down till it nearly touched the ground before 2 rectangles of metal near each end of the fender protruded and continued extending into 2 4 foot "forks" of black steel.

The Sunbeam continued narrowing the gap, the G-force pushing Max and 99 deeper back into their seats while the gray van grew in size.

"I'm stopping him now." Max declared reaching for the fire button.

"Max! Maybe not right…" 99 began only to be cut off as the fire button flashed red under Max's touch.

The cannon boomed and flared again and Max waited for the rear of the gray van to turn into a similar Swiss cheese of flaming metal as it's light blue one compatriot.

Instead, Max's eyes popped as the gray van swerved sharply to the right, tearing up a side road and the wall of a building directly ahead detonated and showered the road with multi-sized chunks of bricks.

Max blinked for a second before turning to 99.

"99, you were saying something?"

"Never mind Max." 99 sighed closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the head rest of her seat.

Kerstin held the gas pedal near the floor as their van surged down the road, buildings on either side flashing by in a blur of bricks and paint.

"Ve are two minutes from zer objective!" Kerstin reported over her shoulder.

"More polizei!" Gerd yelled.

From a side street formed by two buildings they passed, another MPDC squad car shot out and swerved into pursuit followed by two others, rotating red and blue beacons on their roofs flashing.

Kerstin steered the van smoothly over to the right lane, closer to the buildings, side roads and alley ways. The lead MPDC car began pulling away from it's two fellow vehicles. SS-19 raised the walkie talkie and spoke.

"Nighthawk Two. Now."

The gray van roared past a wide alley between two tall buildings and instantly, headlights bloomed in the blackness, illuminating the black Metro van.

With a roar of an engine far more powerful then such a vehicle possessed, Gryphon 6 surged out onto the road.

"What the HELL?!" the MPDC officer behind the wheel yelled out as the van turned and barrelled head on towards them.

His partner next to him groaned.

"I shouldn't have had that last burrito." Just before the extended grills of the black Metro van slammed into the front bumper of their squad car, throwing them forward against their seat belts.

The screams of collapsing, wrenching metal tore through the air as the extended grill of the black van crushed the squad car's headlights and fender sending the smaller vehicle's hood flying off while it's windshield exploded.

But it did not stop there for Nighthawk 2, grinning maniacally, the wreckage of the squad car reflecting on his round mirror lens glasses pressed down on the accelerator, surging forward and shoving the wrecked squad car back the way it came. The KAOS agent reached over and yanked down another ever on his dashboard and the 'forks' of the metro van, now underneath the chasis of the squad car moved up and lifted the mangled vehicle's front wheels off the road as the van continued surging along, pushing it's opponent.

The second squad car could not react and the lead car's rear bumper collided right into their front bumper, shattering their windshields and windows with the impact and caving in their fenders and crumpling their hood like it was a piece of tin foil. Nighthawk 2 floored the accelerator pushing against the elevated lead car and with it's bumper trapped against the squad car behind and the forks from the mutant Metro van elevating it, the lead squad car's warped fenders and front wheels lifted up even further until it was pointing directly up into the night sky.

"Aaaaaaarrrrghhhhh!" chorused both the MPDC officers in the lead car as their world began flipping and turning upside down.

The wreckage of the lead car toppled backwards and it's roof crashed down onto the roof of the car behind it, both flattening. The third car hurtling in could only brake and swerve until it smashed sideways into the rear bumper and upturned wrecked front bumper of the vehicle sandwich before them.

The Sunbeam screeched as it made the same right turn the gray Metro van did and sped down the road.

99's blue eyes flashed and widened as they sped by the sight of the squad car 'sandwich' roof to roof, each vehicle pointing in opposite directions with the third car stuck to it by it's caved in right fender. The officers were out trying to drag their colleagues out of the wreckage.

The road ahead was deserted except for the rapidly shrinking gray Metro van.

"So much for _Safe Driving Week_." Max shook his head with a grimace as they left the carnage behind.

The Sunbeam shot down the road towards the gray Metro van destroying any lead that their quarry had.

"We need da stop them before anyone else gets hurt Max!" 99 declared.

"Especially US!" Max nodded wrenching the gear shift to bring on an additional surge of power.

As the gap between them and the KAOS van reduced rapidly, the CONTROL agents realised they were approaching another T junction with the approaching intersecting arm on their right being a minor road flanked on both sides by old warehouses, connecting to the major road they were now on. At the junction itself on the left side of the major road, facing the intersecting arm to their right, was a large gas station. As both their vehicles neared the junction, they could see a large tank truck parked right in front of the gas station outside the forecourt, likely refilling the underground fuel tanks.

"I can't risk a shot here, not with that filling station right there!" Max declared. "I'll wait till we pass it or till they turn."

"Good thinking Max!"

A few seconds later, with 30 feet to spare, it seemed it was the latter as the gray Metro van screeched and turned to the right into the smaller arm of the junction, instantly disappearing behind the warehouses. The Sunbeam surged forward, the immense tank trunk flashing by on it's left as 86 executed the right turn.

This minor arm of the junction appeared to be relatively short with only about 200 feet of road. As the gray van sped past an alley between 2 warehouses, Max's finger touched the Fire button but he never pushed it for a monstrous roar of an engine ahead drowned out all thought.

99 gasped as a massive black shape charged out from the alley which the gray van had just passed, right in their path.

The black Metro van turned swiftly for it's size and surged nose first at them.

"MAAAAX! LOOK OOOOOOUT!" 99 cried out as the headlights of the black van turned everything a glaring white inside the Sunbeam.

The entire world turned into an explosion of sound and colliding metal and both Max and 99 were flung forward, their seat belts cutting against their shoulders, chest and breasts. Then just as fast, they were thrown back into their seats with whiplashing force as their vehicle came to an abrupt halt. But reprieve escaped them as they felt their vehicle move again but this time backwards, throwing them again against their seatbelts.

Nighthawk 2 smiled maniacally, the red vehicle reflected in his sunglasses as he yanked on the gearshift bringing more power into the van's engines. The screaming of tires challenged the roar of both engines.

Max and 99 finally looked up and both gawked at the sight before them. The grill of the black van filled the entire view of their windshield. But they blinked realizing there was something strange about the grill and looking closer, they realized it extended out from the face of the van, backed by 2 telescoping steel struts each making it into some form of battering ram.

"Hold on Ninety-Nine!" Max yelled flooring the gas pedal and going through the gears but they realised they were still being pushed backwards.

Nighthawk 2 growled, tasting victory as he yanked down on the second lever and the humming of the 2 prongs joined the orchestra of tire screeches, engine bellows and grinding metal. The prongs pressed against the chasis of the Sunbeam and continued rising.

"Max!" 99 cried looking out the window on her side. "The front tires are lifting off the road!"

Soon, the front tires were spinning in the air nearly a foot off the asphalt leaving only the rear wheels screeching against the asphalt. But it was in vain as they were continuously pushed in the opposite direction back towards the junction and smoke and dust billowed out from the rear wheels.

Reaching the end of this minor arm of the junction, the gray Metro van arrived at a Y junction and Kerstin took the turn to the right past a small warehouse, effectively cutting off the reflection in the driver's side mirror of the black Metro van overwhelming their pursuer in a clash metal and engines. Surging down this new dark street for a few hundred yards, the gray Metro van finally pulled to a smooth stop at the curb right over a manhole.

86 slammed the gearshift into 'R' and floored the accelerator again. The wheels all spun in reverse. The screeching from the rear wheels was almost entirely eradicated as it matched the direction they were being pushed in. But the pressure of the van against their car did not cease. Max yanked the steering wheel left and right but other than a jerk and wobble that shook the interior of their vehicle and some ear splitting scream of metal against metal from the chasis beneath them, their situation remained unchanged.

"I can't get free!" Max yelled leaning forward to look up through the windshield to see a glimpse of the van's windshield above them and the top of a bald head in the driver's seat, ringed with platinum blond hair. "He's got some kind of prongs or forks pinning us from underneath!"

Nighthawk 2 laughed, bearing crooked teeth as he gazed down into the windshield of the Sunbeam with the 2 struggling CONTROL agents reflected in his mirror lenses, hollering as he shook a gloved fist towards the ceiling of the van's cab.

"Die! Die! Die Kapitalisticheskiye svin'i!"

The gray Metro van surged out from a narrow side street and swerved into a tire screaming right turn onto a larger street. It's entire boxy body wobbled slightly with it's velocity before it managed to stabilize as it continued speeding down the road with hardware stores and garages on either side flashing by its windows. It got maybe 500 yards down this road before the wail of sirens caught up to it as an MPDC squad car tore out from a side street, seconds after it passed it. The squad car's rotating beacons flashed red and blue as the officer driving swung the vehicle onto a pursuit course, it's sirens blaring away.

Almost immediately behind it, a second squad car came surged out from the same side street to join in the pursuit.

As the lead car slowly began to close the gap, the MPDC officer in the passenger seat spoke rapidly into the car radio's microphone.

"CR47 to despatch! In pursuit of suspect vehicle from the National Museum! Now heading North on Henry and Sixth!"

Max worked the gears feverishly, shifting out of reverse into 4th and slammed the gas pedal down. The rear tires screamed again against the opposing force and the smell of burnt rubber filled the interior of the Sunbeam. Black smoke from the wheels wafted past them on either sides nearly blocking out entirely their views out of the windows on either side giving the impression of travel on a steam train.

"Time for the ol' cannon-in-the-front-bumper trick!" Max declared reaching for the controls.

"Max NO!" 99 grabbed his forearm, his fingers 2 inches from the fire button. "We're too close! The blast will kill us too!"

"Some days it just feels like every step you take forward, you ROLL two hundred feet backwards!" Max rolled his eyes, tossing up his hands.

99 turned in her seat and gasped as she looked through the rear windshield of the convertible top, to see the junction with it's gas station and parked tank truck growing larger by the second.

"Max!" 99 yelled. "He's going to run us into the gasoline truck at the gas station!"

Max glanced in the rear view mirror to see the gasoline truck almost filling it's entire view with it's trailer tank filled with thousands of gallons of flammable liquid death awaiting them.

Max grimaced as the rear wheels screamed, smoked and fought in vain against the force of the van and with them running out of road and about to meet an abundance of combustible liquid fuel accompanied by hundreds of sharp metal edges ready to produce a helpful spark, he swore.

"This is NOT the way I wanted da get a free tank of gas!"

TO BE CONTINUED

Written by

 **Resurgent** **-class**

 **Thank you everyone who kept at it till the end of another part! So sorry for the volume and I'll try to keep it shorter for future fan-fics! With that, I do hope you'll continue on to Part 3!**

 **And now again, some Trivia for those interested and not entirely bored! Reviews and comments are always welcomed!**

Wyatt's declaration that his East European accented English is proper English over American accented English is one of the famous jokes in Get Smart, featured at least twice that I know of. First in Season 2, Episode 1, Anatomy of a Lover, then a second time, 2 years later in Season 4, Episode 26, The Not-So-Great Escape, Part 2.

Wyatt instructing Flat Nose & Grant: " _ **Bystro!**_ Get zher _**devushka's**_ bug and gun! Go—get Smart's weapun!"

: **Quickly** **Girl**

Gus yelling as he fires upon Max and 99: " _ **Meghaaaaal!**_ _ **Kapitalista kutyááááák**_!"

" _ **Diiiiiiie!**_ _ **Capitalist doggggs**_!"

Němec to SS-19: "Zhey tot zhey could tlack me. But—I led zum eento tlap! Zhey are finished a roasting in _**peklo**_ now!"

 **Hell**

SS-19 to Němec: "They FOUND you vecause you ver careless. YOU are zer ONLY— _ **hloupý**_ —vun in zhis _**katastrofa**_ that you created. I gave...Your endless cravings for zhose filthy coronas you stuff inside your mouth und vhich you carelessly left at zher newspaper store, allowed zhem to pin-point you in zheir viles which led zhem to your last conqvest which led zhem to your Swedish _**hračka**_! Und to cover up your stupidity...you, CONTROL vill keep zhat area under surveillance for ...All because of your __ _ **dětinský**_ incompetence!"

 **Stupid, Catastrophe, Toy, Childish**

Němec to SS-19 "Dun't zhink you are zo smart you silly little _**dívka**_!"

 **Girl**

SS-19 to Němec: " _ **Ano.**_ You are very good at following a map and..'"

 **Yes**

Němec to SS-19: " _ **Bláhový**_ _ **dítě!**_ I'm vinished vasting my skills in your _**patetický**_ _ **boční**_ show! I'm going back to assasinating and torture vhere I um appreciated!"

 **Foolish child. Pathetic side** (show) **.**

SS-19 to Němec: "You are indeed— _ **muž ve svém vlastním světě**_.—But een zhis vorld, you have failed KAOS for zer last time."

 **A man in his own world.**

The KAOS front gas station Harvey's Gas Station & Garage is located at 4th and Vermont. This address is featured in Season 4, Episode 16, The Day They Raided the Knights, and is the location the Knight's Stamp Redemption Centre, a front for the KAOS munitions depot, where 99 unwittingly gets a job when she is temporarily laid off by CONTROL. In the episode, Larabee mentions that a jewellery store, gas station and delicatessen are also found in this area. Keeping with this continuity, Max and 99 upon first arriving at the area, parks in front of some delicatessens and jewellery stores. It is implied in this fan-fic that Harvey's Gas Station & Garage is occupying the location of the gas station mentioned by Larabee. Also, SS-19 mentions KAOS plans to use the area for the munitions depot and it is conceptualized in this fan-fic that Němec's carelessness stalled KAOS' plans explaining why the munitions depot is only operational about 3-4 years later in Season 4.

Max mentions he bought a pastrami sandwich with fries from Burt's Delicatessen across the street. The delicatessen is mentioned in Season 4, Episode 23, Leadside, in which Max thinks Leadside will wipe out CONTROL by poisoning the food from this delicatessen located across the street from CONTROL.

Max mentions having to pay a deposit for CONTROL issued equipment, in this case a throwing knife. This maintains continuity for a protocol mentioned in Season 2, Episode 13, Perils in a Pet Shop, where 13 demands a $20 deposit from Max before lending him his skeleton key saying that is what CONTROL charges him for it.

Max mentions the Federal Reserve Banks normally holds $5 million. My research is too paltry to determine if this is true but adhering to in-universe continuity, Season 2, Episode 4, Maxwell Smart, Alias Jimmy Ballantine, KAOS agent Jerry Dobring states their target is the Federal Reserve Bank vault's content of $5 million dollars.

The Chief issues a Magenta alert for agents to arm themselves to stop the robbery at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Some websites on the Get Smart series states a Magenta alert as a case that can only be discussed under the Cone of Silence. But in Season 2, Episode 25, How to Succeed in the Spy Business Without Really Trying, the Chief issues a Magenta alert with the instructions for agents to arm themselves and head to Fort Knox.

The bull's head presidential hotline behind the secret compartment in the Chief's office is actually first seen much later in Season 3, Episode 24, The Hot Line. However, in The Hot Line, the actual phone is actually a Steer Horn while the bull's head serves only as a speaker and microphone. In this fan-fic, I postulate an early more cumbersome version of the hot-line with the bull's head. By the end of this fan-fic, a simple explanation will be given to uphold the continuity of it's transformation into the version seen in the original series.

The Chief promises the president he will not disturb him during round-up time. This inside joke is featured also in Season 2, Episode 3, A Spy for a Spy, where the great Bernie Kopell takes on the mantle of Siegfried and gifts the world with one of the most memorable villains in action satire history!

Agent 74, the Chief's lieutenant in Kansas City is featured in the flesh in Season 2, Episode 25, How to Succeed in the Spy Business Without Really Trying. 74 again foreshadows his own tragic demise, saying some mishap always befalls him when working with Max, for in How to Succeed in the Spy Business Without Really Trying, he is shot by a KAOS agent because Max goads him into taking a foolhardy action.

The joke where Max goes wild over the exotic photos of Pernilla and secretly keeps some when 99 takes them from him maintains the continuity of Max's womanizing nature displayed similarly in Season 1, Episode 2, Diplomat's Daughter, where Max admires the photographs of the 8 women kidnapped by the Claw (which were unlikely to have featured them in seductive poses) and when the Chief takes them from him, he is seen to have secretly kept one which he ogles at.

Agent 54 on the roof of the Federal Reserve Building in Kansas City with Agent 38, is the tragic agent painted to death on the night of his own surprise birthday party in Season 2, Episode 12, Bronzefinger. As per my cheesy style, he foreshadows his own tragic demise in this fan-fic with his exclamation "Oh-my-GOD! Paint me blue and call me Starry Night over the Rhone!"

Agent 38 refers to the courier agent in Season 3's, The Spy Who Met Himself, who is replaced by the League of Impostors' duplicate but later escapes.

In this chapter of my second Get Smart fan-fic, KAOS robs the National Museum. Far as I can tell (correct me if I'm wrong please), museums have been featured in 3 different episodes in the original series, namely Season 2, Episodes 12 & 19, Bronzefinger & The Mummy respectively and Season 4, Episode 23, Leadside. In Bronzefinger, it is only referred to as the "museum" while in The Mummy, according to Get Smart Wiki, it is called the Metropolitan Museum. Only in Leadside is it referred to as the National Museum. I have no idea if it is meant to refer to the same museum in the series. However, in both Bronzefinger and The Mummy, the same building is used to depict the exterior of the museum while a visually different building is utilized in Leadside. For the purposes of this fan-fic's plot, I chose to utilize the building depicted in Bronzefinger and The Mummy for the external scenes of the National Museum. Of course, as we all know, the building featured in Bronzefinger and The Mummy is of course not a museum but the U.S Supreme Court Building, more precisely it's western façade (essentially the front of the building). As such I adhered to the in-universe continuity for this fan-fic. However, the basement storeroom which the KAOS agents were using to move the exhibits out and which Max and 99 infiltrates the museum is meant to be the same storeroom we see Max confronting Leadside in during the opening scene of that episode (my description does it no justice…sigh.) Max also states he comes to the museum to relax whenever he is confused as he does in Leadside.

The Palermo Shearwater in this fan-fic is of course, inspired by the Tequila Mockingbird from the Get Smart Series itself, Season 4, Episode 17, Tequila Mockingbird. A reference is of course made when Max remarks "why it always involves a bejewelled bird". But a slight deviation from original series canon, Max was demonstrated to have in depth knowledge of the Tequila Mockingbird in the eponymous episode while 99 was clueless but here in this fan-fic, 99 is the one with the knowledge about a very similar artefact.

KAOS Agent in alley: "Aaaaarggghhh! _**Glupyye koshki**_!"

 **Stupid cats.**

KAOS Agent in alley: "Zon't want end up like zat Czech _**durachit'**_!"

 **Fool**

Helmut shouting at Josef: "Josef you _**faul hanswurst**_! Wake up…"

 **Lazy fool**

The Burlington Collection at the National Museum is mentioned (I'm not sure if that's the way it is spelled as there aren't subtitles on my DVD) which is the collection Leadside was stealing.

Helmut, the KAOS driver is as captivated by the girl in the Woman at a Dutch Door as Agent 13 is in Season 2, Episode 12, Bronzefinger.

This fan-fic shows 99 using a melee weapon, the Blackjack or cosh a form of club like weapon, something she has never used in the original series (please comment in reviews if I'm wrong), though this form of weapon has been seen at least twice – Season 2, Episode 22, Smart Fit the Battle of Jericho, used by CONTROL West agent Charlie Watkins against the KAOS agent in the alley to save Max and Season 3, Episode 10, That Old Gang of Mine, seemingly the favoured weapon of El Gatto which he uses to break off a piece of a table upon his introduction.

Helmut, the KAOS driver and the elderly couple in the apartment building which the squad car rear ends into, mentions watching Dean Martin. They are of course referring to the outrageously successful TV variety-comedy series, The Dean Martin Show which debuted in Sep 1965. This is also a nod to the ravishing and irreplaceable Barbara Feldon (Agent 99) who guest starred on the show at some point in it's run (haven't been able to pinpoint which season or episode. Anyone out there knows?)

In this fan-fic, Gerd utters the immortal words of the series, "Get Smart!" or more precisely, "Get Shmart!" just as various villains in the original series does, the first being The Claw in Season 1, Episode 2, Diplomat's Daughter.

The scene where SS-19 and Gerd are cornered by the police on the porch of the museum's west entrance is inspired by another favourite action movie of mine, Die Hard. In it, chief villain Hans Gruber (portrayed by the late, yet ever great Alan Rickman) and his lieutenant Karl (Alexander Godunov) has a barefooted John McClane (Bruce Willis) trapped in an area with numerous glass partitions. Hans hits on a tactic and issues a command to Karl in German but Karl, despite being German also, cannot comprehend it until Hans repeats it in English "Shoot zer GLASS!" Similarly in this fan-fic, SS-19 tells Gerd twice in German "Öffne die Türen!" (hopefully my translation is not too far off) but like Karl, Gerd fails to comprehend until SS-19 repeats it in English, "Open zer DOORS!". On a tangent, according to IMDB, the command Hans issued was "schieß dem Fenster" which based on google translate is "Shoot the window." So if taken literally, it might explain Karl's confusion as the windows in the building would be along the sides and not where McClane was taking cover at this time.

A homage to Die Hard in a way—when Hans berates Karl about disobeying his orders to leave John McClane neutralized while they focused on their mission, Karl, dead-set on avenging his brother Tony (Andreas Wisniewski), declares "I don't want neutral. I want dead." Similarly in this fan-fic, SS-19 confronts Gerd about shooting the policemen instead of letting the gas neutralize them, Gerd's replied with a line similar to Karl, "DEAD—better zhan nu-tlalized any day."

The car chase scene following the National Museum robbery was not conceptualised beforehand and I also HATE car chase scenes in movies and TV and detest writing it even more! lol But…sigh…my limited creativity saw no other way to carry on the story from there..so…Hope it's not too bad.

After seeing the wreckages of the MPDC squad cars left by the KAOS van with the battering ram and forks, Max remarks "So much for _Safe Driving Week_." This is a reference to Season 2, Episode 23, Where-What-How-Who Am I?, in the opening scene, KAOS agents shoots Max's car as he attempts to escape and his car crashes into a building with a sign stating the same message "Safe Driving Week".

Nighthawk 2hollering at Max and 99 **:** "Die! Die! Die _**Kapitalisticheskiye svin'i**_!"

 **Capitalist pigs**


End file.
